Team-building activities and an engineering competition have been held as youngsters embraced the World of Work.

Year nine pupils at St Benedict School's have taken part in a host of activities during a careers day organised by the school and Inspira.

Nathalie Hannan, director of learning for Year nine, said: "The World of Work day is extremely beneficial for our Year nines as it gives them an insight into what different jobs entail in terms of skills, qualifications and requirements.

"It also gives our students an idea about what there is for them in west Cumbria. We are very grateful so many employers gave up their time to come and work with our students."

Meet-and-greet sessions, designed like speed-dating, were held to give students the chance to interact with businesses such as the British Army, Copeland Council, Morgan Sindall and The Beacon Museum.

Alan Gillon, from The Beacon Museum, said: "The opportunity to engage with the students at the World of Work was very rewarding for everyone involved.

"The students had some excellent questions and were eager to listen to the advice offered, some were even surprised that you could have a fulfilling and enjoyable career in the museum service.

"I hope this experience has shown the students just what a wide and varied future they can have here in west Cumbria."

As well as helping to organise the event, Inspira also delivered some team building sessions.

Michael Priestley, from Inspira, said: "World of Work days are a great way of helping students get a good picture of what is available after school and the pathways open to them. They provide inspiration and give students something to aim for.

"We love to help schools organise these days and we are really grateful to all the employers who so willingly give up their time to support schools and young people."

The final session involved a special engineering challenge, and had STEM ambassadors from Sellafield, Cavendish Nuclear, Atkins and Jacobs assisting. The students were split into teams, and tasked with designing and building model vehicles, which were then tested and raced in competitions at the end.