Thirty Sharples students (from years 9 and 10) visited Manchester Crown Courts last week to take part in a workshop recreating a criminal trial and to learn more about careers in the law.
First, we met Cath from the National Justice Museum who introduced the court system as a working environment.
Then we met Curtis, an apprentice solicitor at Manchester firm Eversheds. Curtis gave us a young person’s perspective on the legal profession and explained the apprenticeship as an alternative route to qualification.
Finally, we worked with Cath to recreate a criminal trial with Sharples students role-playing the judge, court officials, prosecution teams, defence teams, the jury and witnesses. We all found this great fun as well as gaining a valuable insight into working in the court system.
Being able to do this in a real court room brought it all to life. As we walked back through the courts, on our way home, our students saw everything in a new light. Plenty for us all to think about as students start to plan their future career paths.
