Estates manager the winning career for Stoke Damerel Community College

Health Education England (HEE) is delighted to announce students from Stoke Damerel Community College in Plymouth are the South West regional winners of the Step into the NHS national schools' competition.

Year 8 students Rion Recica and Charlie Harrison impressed the judges with their entry to promote the role of estates manager to their peers. Rion and Charlie created a professionally styled video advertising the role. 

Now in its ninth year, the competition attracted numerous entries from up and down the country and more than 2,000 students got involved. The competition aims to promote the 350-plus careers available in health and students were tasked with designing an advertisement and job description for their chosen role. They could work individually or in groups of up to four.

Mrs Hannaford, executive principal, at Stoke Dameral Community College, said:

Rion and Charlie worked extremely hard on their film and certainly got a great performance from Year 8 learning manager Mr Hammond.

We are thrilled that they have deservedly been recognised as one of the best entries in the country out of so many.

This competition is an excellent project, really engaging students with the workings of the health service and the different job options available to them – it is a brilliant way of showcasing the vast array of roles and career opportunities there are within our NHS.

Rion said:

All the entries from our school were so good. We wanted to do something that was not an obvious NHS career to show there are so many different jobs you can do – our film was really fun to make and I think people found it funny to watch too.

Charlie Harrison said he would “definitely” recommend students take part in future competitions.

You get to be creative and have fun while you make it. I feel really proud to have won especially as the school won last year as well.

Amanda Shobrook, widening participation and apprenticeship lead for HEE, said:

Congratulations to Rion, Charlie and Stoke Damerel Community College for their fantastic entry. Young people are extremely important to the future of the NHS workforce. It is important that the NHS engages with young people now and lets them know about the wealth of career opportunities.

There are more than 350 different careers to choose from in health and jobs range from community matron, dietician or public health analyst to a finance manager or web developer. Initiatives such as the schools competition really help to raise awareness of this.