IT was a case of me and my shadow for schoolchildren as they got a taste of working life this week.

Year 7 pupils at Bury Grammar School (Girls) spent Monday work-shadowing professionals throughout the borough as part of Bury 2000 - a pioneering education project.

Pupils were then asked to spend the following two days working on a presentation for their peer group, teachers and parents, expressing their thoughts and ideas about the world of work through one form of media.

The project is part of Education 2000 - a system of education in the North of England pioneered by Bury seven years ago. It aims to change the way schools work to promote learning instead of teaching.

And it is designed to prepare children for the world of work by teaching them new skills and adapt to advances in technology and knowledge.

Children are encouraged to use information technology and to manage their own learning to cope with the challenges of the working world.

Emphasis is also placed on strengthening partnerships with industry. Organiser, Mrs Pamela Wells, senior teacher in charge of curriculum, said pupils went to a variety of places from a local vets to a demolition firm.

"The girls have been very enthusiastic about the project and have found the exercise very useful and interesting." She added: "This is the first time the Year 7 pupils will have been working off timetable and out of a classroom environment.

Mrs Wells emphasised that the presentations were designed for the pupils work in a team.

"They have done all the work, come up with the ideas and have had minimal help from members of staff and I am very pleased with their efforts."

She added: "It is not just the pupils who get something out of it. The companies who take the children on have also commented on how interesting it has been to get a young person's perspective on things, especially as they are the future working generation."

Eleven-year-old Nicola Holt, who spent her day at a vet's surgery in Bury, found the exercise very exciting and useful. She said: "I want to be a vet and thought my day there was brilliant.

"I watched a cat being castrated and dental work being performed on an animal. I helped feed the animals in the kennels and really enjoyed watching the vet give injections and take heartbeats.

"It was a great experience."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.