Fourteen children from High Oakham Primary School, Mansfield, visited Nottinghamshire Police’s headquarters as part of its Mini Police programme.

They toured the force’s control room, watched call handlers respond to emergency calls, and heard about what their job entails.

Then the youngsters worked with trainee constables (PCs) in the training school. Partnering with an officer, they asked questions, tried on uniform and helmets, and listened to a staged voice recording of an incident being reported to the control room.

They also worked alongside the trainee PCs, taking notes and learning more about how calls are dealt with.

The Mini Police programme works with 506 students from schools across Nottinghamshire.

Barbs Strang, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Citizens in Policing department, who arranged the visit, said: “Teaming the children up with some of our trainee PCs was great, not only for the kids but for our trainees too.

“They got the chance to ask questions and get to interact with the trainees, who reinforced we’re friendly and here to help. It’s also great to see the trainee PCs interact with schoolchildren and get to put the skills they’ve learned in training into action.

“Being a PC isn’t just about arresting people — it’s about engaging with our communities and visiting schools.

“Putting both groups together to go through this exercise was great in terms of learning for the officers and students alike.

“It’s important that we do different activities with students to show them exactly what police officers do as a job and build that trust and confidence in the police from an early age.

“The students all commented on how smiley and welcoming every police officer they met was, something they had not expected.”