CHILDREN’S TV presenter Chris Jarvis recently visited Weydon School to talk to students about careers within the world of show business and the media.

Chris spoke to an enthusiastic audience of students from all year groups in Weydon’s Medici Theatre about careers in the creative industries, during the students’ lunchbreak.

He explained how his career started in Variety and radio as an impressionist, character actor and musician, moving into children’s BBC television in 1993.

Since then he has hosted shows for all ages including the Broom Cupboard, Friday Zone, Fully Booked, Look Sharp, Playdays, Step Inside, Stargazing and for the past 15 years, CBeebies.

He currently co-stars in his own programme, Show Me Show Me. Off telly, he has starred, written and directed many professional pantos and is involved in the charity Action for Children’s Arts (childrensarts.org.uk/).

Chris spoke about opportunities in the traditional mediums of radio, TV and theatre but also about the new possibilities presented by digital platforms such as YouTube.

He particularly encouraged students to find their ‘unique selling point’ and to nurture their talents through further education. His frank and honest portrayal of his career was described as both encouraging and inspiring.

The students were fascinated and asked a lot of interesting and intelligent questions. By sharing his experience he also demonstrated that there are many avenues to success in the creative industries and confirmed that  there are many opportunities beyond the obvious.

Ali Molan, Weydon careers co-ordinator, said: “Chris was an engaging, informative and encouraging speaker. He represents success in the creative industries and obviously enjoys doing what he is good at.

“We are very grateful for his time and support because it is important for our students to understand that the creative industries are as important as any other industry, in terms of career choice, as they produce £84 billion each year to the UK economy (£10 million every hour).”

Chris said after the event: “What an amazing venue! The students were all incredibly switched on and I do hope they all prosper. They’re off to a good start surrounded by so much talent and superb facilities.”