Liverpool school announced as regional winner of NHS competition

Students from The Belvedere Academy in Liverpool have been crowned the regional winners of Health Education England’s (HEE) 2018/2019 Step into the NHS secondary school competition.

Anna Stevenson, Cara Thompson and Carmen Rong designed a video within an app that focused on the role of estates managers, impressing the judges and earning themselves the North West regional award, beating 198 other entries from the region.

Step into the NHS (which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary) aims to showcase the breadth of career options in the NHS and combat gender stereotypes, while giving students valuable job-seeking skills for the future.

All entrants were asked to research their dream NHS career and design a creative advert and job description.

Sarah Carroll, careers leader at The Belvedere Academy, said: “Step into the NHS is a great competition that gives pupils a chance to explore a huge range of jobs in a fun and creative way.  We have taken part in the competition for several years, and the standard of entries is always so high – we are thrilled to have a group become regional winners.”

The winning students, Anna Stevenson, Cara Thompson and Carmen Rong, all 13, said: “Taking part in the competition was great as we got the chance to explore all the different jobs you can do as part of the NHS which we didn’t know about before.

“We worked really hard on our entry, exploring the role of an estates manager, and had to put a lot of thought into what they do. It was a really fun way to learn more about careers in the NHS.”

Professor Ian Cumming, chief executive, Health Education England, said: “I have been delighted by the wide variety of roles that have featured in this year’s entries, ranging from drama therapists, to paramedics and nurses, it is a true celebration of the NHS and the numerous careers on offer.

It is more important than ever that we act now to inspire the next generation of NHS staff. Step into the NHS supports this by showcasing its fantastic careers.

I would like to congratulate all the pupils who entered this year, and particularly to our regional and national winners.”