Youngsters tossed their caps in the air in celebration after they were recognised at a school assembly for their outstanding work and dedication on a police programme.

Year five and six pupils from Mansfield’s Wainwright Primary Academy joined Nottinghamshire Police’s Mini Police initiative a year ago.

In the 12 months since, they have had regular visits from local and specialist police officers, and attended multiple events and activities.

The project — now in place in more than 20 schools across the county — has been designed to give young children the opportunity to learn about their safety, their role in the community, and how police work to keep people safe.

At the end of their time on the scheme, pupils were watched by their families, friends, and members of the Mansfield neighbourhood policing team as they spoke about the many things they had learned.

Ten-year-old Jake Clampett-Skeavington explained what he had discovered during a visit to an exhibition aimed at fighting knife crime, by the Ben Kinsella Trust at Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice.

He said: “Ben was murdered when he was out with his friends celebrating his GCSE results. We learned more about how dangerous knives can be and what can happen if we, or anyone we know, ever takes one out with them.”

Julia Hallam, of Wainwright Primary Academy, added: “Being part of the Mini Police programme has been an amazing experience for everyone here at the academy. More importantly, it has helped us to achieve many of the outcomes we wanted to.

“Traditionally there have been high crime rates in our area and that has historically resulted in some very negative perceptions of the police among our families.

“By bringing the police into the school we have been able to show people in the school and the wider community more about who they actually are and what they do to keep us safe.

“The effect on the children has been fantastic. To see them change and grow as a result of this experience has just been so rewarding.

“They have grown in confidence, they have grown in self-esteem, and they have grown in resilience because of this programme — and quite a few of them now say they want to be police officers when they grow up.”

Helen Ridley, partnerships officer at Nottinghamshire Police and Mini Police founder, said: “This is the most rewarding part of my job. It is wonderful to see how the children now interact with our officers and the very obvious way that their attitude towards the police has changed as a result.

“It is so satisfying to hear so many of the children say they now want to become police officers themselves when they are older.”