Children from a New Addington primary school were given an insight into the world of work last week.

Many even swapped their dreams of becoming football stars in exchange for a different career.

An innovative community scheme designed by Croydon-based Mondial UK allowed pupils at Castle Hill Primary to get a taste of working life.

The company, which was voted in the Times top 100 companies to work for, worked with the New Addington school as part of its mentoring programme.

Representatives from the George Street company visit the school regularly to give pupils an insight into the working world and last week invited children from the school to spend the morning at their offices so they could see for themselves what happens on an average day.

Jennifer Kiwala, corporate and social responsibility advocate at Mondial explained why the company got involved: "Mondial invest a lot of time in their community schemes as part of the company's commitment to give something back to its local community.

"For the past four months Mondial employees have been visiting Castle Hill Primary School and this time it was the children's turn to visit our offices. They spent the morning with us and were treated to a guided tour of all the various departments, having to complete activities throughout each visit."

Each child was given a security badge and at the end of the day the company held a ceremony where each student was awarded a certificate and a goodie bag.

Jon Burgess has recently become a mentor on the scheme and feels that keeping in touch with the education system is important.

"I think it is very healthy to stay close to schools and I like to think that both sides get a lot out of the scheme. For some of these children it will only be a matter of five years before they are in the workplace and I think it a very important way of putting things into perspective for them."

The scheme was developed in partnership with Croydon Education Business Partnership which is involved in the local education initiatives carried out by Mondial.

Jenifer added: "The children enjoy the visits and it gives them an interesting insight into the world of work. One boy even told me that until last week he always wanted to be a footballer but now he wants to work at Mondial.

"A mentoring scheme like this builds on our CSR Programme, which focuses on education, the environment and family. We have really enjoyed getting to know everyone at Castle Hill Primary School and will look to run a similar project in the new year."