Halton Housing Staff Joined Aspirations Week at Halebank C of E Primary School

Two Halton Housing staff visited Halebank C of E Primary School as part of the school’s Aspirations Week, talking to pupils about the work the housing association does and the range of jobs it employs people to do. The week brought in visitors from across the world of work, from nuclear engineers to gymnastics coaches.

Halton Housing published an account of the visit on 7 July.

What Aspirations Week involved

The school ran a full week of visitors, each talking to pupils about their job. Those who came in included footballers, firefighters, nurses, coffee shop owners, nuclear engineers, airport workers, gymnastics coaches, photographers, hairdressers, arts and crafts specialists, and radio hosts.

The breadth is the point. Primary-age children form ideas about what work is available largely from what they see around them, and the research on career aspirations consistently shows those ideas narrow early — often by age seven — and are shaped by gender, class, and family occupation. Bringing a nuclear engineer and a hairdresser into the same week is a direct attempt to widen the frame before it closes.

The presence of nuclear engineers is locally specific rather than incidental. Halebank sits close to the industrial belt running along the Mersey, and the wider region has significant chemical, process, and energy employment.

What Halton Housing told the pupils

The two colleagues talked about what the organisation does — maintaining homes and neighbourhoods, and helping customers reach services, activities, and opportunities — and about the variety of roles within it.

That variety is worth spelling out, because “housing association” reads to most people as a single job. In practice an organisation of Halton Housing’s size employs trades staff, surveyors, customer service teams, finance and IT specialists, neighbourhood officers, social impact staff, and repairs planners. The message to pupils was that different skills and interests all have a place.

The staff reported that pupils asked detailed questions and were curious about what a typical working day looked like.

Georgina Crank, Social Engagement and Impact Officer at Halton Housing, said events of this kind were a way to engage young people and show the range of opportunities in social housing, and described the aim as planting seeds and broadening horizons.

Work experience for older students

Halton Housing also runs Workplace Safari, a week-long work experience programme for older students, which gives an insight into careers across the organisation and the wider sector. Schools and students interested in that route can find details on the housing association’s website.

The primary school visits and the work experience programme both sit within Our Future Focus 2025-28, Halton Housing’s corporate strategy, which commits the organisation to creating opportunities and building aspirations locally.

For schools wanting to do the same

Schools in Widnes considering a similar week can approach local employers directly. Halton Housing, based at Waterfront Point on Warrington Road, can be contacted on 0303 333 0101. Riverside College also runs employer engagement and careers work with local schools, and the council’s economic development team maintains contact with major employers across the borough.

Parents in occupations children rarely encounter are often the easiest place for a school to start.

Further reading and sources

• Sharing Experiences and Inspiring Young People at Halebank — Halton Housing, 7 July 2026
• Workplace Safari — Halton Housing work experience programme
• Our Future Focus 2025-28 — Halton Housing corporate plan