Mayor wants schools to rise to careers challenge

Established by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Careers was recently extended to include primary school pupils and aims to educate young people about their career choices in the region.

Now children between the ages of seven and 11 are being asked to show off their skills by designing a fun and creative mascot for Tees Valley Primary Careers.

The winning entry will be brought to life by a professional designer to become the face of the scheme and feature on its website, social media and resources.

Teachers and parents are being encouraged to put together teams of four or five children to come up with their character, considering questions such as “what does the Tees Valley mean to you?” and “if the Tees Valley was a person, how would you describe them?”.

The closing date for entries is 5pm on Friday, December 3, and Mayor Houchen will also pay the winning team a visit.

He said: “Skills such as imagination, creativity and thinking outside of the box are vital and the ability to come up with concepts, designs and logos requires ingenuity and teamwork, all of which this contest aims to promote.

“We had huge success in engaging our 100,000 secondary school students but it’s never too early for our young people to understand their life choices.

"I look forward to meeting the winning team – and our new mascot.”

For more information including entry packs, go to www.teesvalleycareers.com/education/mascot-contest