East of England winner of NHS competition announced

Peterborough school students, Maddie Nuri and Jemimah Opasanya, aged 10, win top prize for East of England region in an annual contest encouraging primary school pupils to create a ‘thank you’ to NHS staff while learning about the many careers in the NHS.

Maddie and Jemimah, students at The Peterborough School, created a video animation illustrating a series of roles within the NHS, which also included stories of their relatives who work within the health service. After thanking NHS staff for their hard work, the students concluded their video with a bloopers spin at the end.

Health Education England (HEE) runs the Step into the NHS competition each year to raise awareness of the more than 350 career opportunities in the NHS, while supporting the career aspirations of young people in education.

This year’s competition saw 916 entries from more than 1,080 pupils in 36 primary schools across England. As well as encouraging students to challenge gender stereotyping in health professions, pupils had the chance to say ‘thank you’ to the NHS in their own personal and creative way.

Step into the NHS teaching resources are split into four areas, helping pupils discover their personal strengths, learn about working in the NHS and explore the history and technology within it.

In a special prize presentation assembly on Tuesday 5 July, Maddie and Jemimah each received a certificate, a £25 Amazon voucher  and an exciting goody bag.

I used the Step Into the NHS learning resources, slides and activities to create a week long project. I was absolutely over the moon when Maddie and Jemimah were announced the East of England Regional winners - I am very proud of them. I am also proud if Elsie, Daisy, and Harry who were highly commended. The effort they made and empathy they showed towards the NHS was testament to their characters.

Sara Noone, Class Teacher

The judges for the primary school competition were Navina Evans, chief executive of NHS Health Education England, NHS trainee clinical scientist Kade Flowers, and medical student Marianne Gazet.

Kade Flowers, competition judge and NHS trainee clinical scientist, told Maddie and Jemimah: “Amazing video! This obviously took a lot of time to make, and your presentation was well prepared and delivered. Your bloopers were also a great addition to show the difficulty in producing this.”

The entries for the Step Into The NHS 2022 contest have been creative, entertaining and inspirational.

I am absolutely delighted to congratulate Maddie and Jemimah on their video, I especially enjoyed the bloopers at the end, looks like the girls had lots of fun working on this project together. Well done to Maddie and Jemimah, keep up the great work.

Dr Navina Evans, Chief Executive, Health Education England

Developed in partnership with teachers, Step into the NHS includes a careers quiz, real-life stories from NHS staff, work experience tips and learning resources to help young people explore the hundreds of roles within the NHS: https://www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk/

For details of all the career opportunities the NHS can offer, visit the NHS Health Careers website here: www.healthcareers.nhs.uk