AFTER taking four students to the Takeover Day at the Kingfisher Centre in November, Walkwood Middle School decided to run its own school Takeover Day.

This would give the students the opportunity to develop valuable skills associated with applying for jobs, as well as an understanding of how school is run and insight into the world of work.

The idea was that students would adopt all of the key roles and jobs within the school for a day. There were a total of 50 jobs from the headteacher, receptionists, caretakers, business managers and teachers on offer.

Interested students had to apply for whichever role they wanted via a formal application letter. In total, there were a staggering 337 applications.

Successful applicants were invited to an interview for their desired job and all dressed to impress.

Many students took the time to create CVs and folders of achievement to present, while those going for teaching jobs had already thought about the lessons they might teach should they be awarded the position.

February 14 saw the big day itself, with students turning up early to prepare for their day ahead.

It started with a staff briefing before a school celebration assembly led by Chloe Thomas and Bradley Smith, headteachers for the day.

As the day progressed all students were busy doing everything staff would normally be doing, including teaching lessons and marking books, answering phone calls, talking to parents, dealing with first aid issues, maintaining the school building, and much more.

A school spokesman said: "The day was a great success and brought endless benefits for students.

"We hope that following the success of this, we can make it an annual event at Walkwood."

Tracey Tomes, head of PSHE and Takeover Day co-ordinator, said: "I was truly amazed by the response it received and the way all students rose to the challenge."