Four pupils were given the opportunity to run Carr Green Junior, Infant and Nursery School as part of Takeover Day organised by 11 Million, a national organisation led by Children's Commissioner for England, Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, which ensures that the views of children and young people are routinely asked for and listened to.

Lauren Kemp and Eisley Swaine were appointed head teachers, Amy Eve was the administrator and Harry Spence was the site manager.

The children were asked to apply for the jobs and send in CVs stating the skills they had to offer for the job. The 11 children who were shortlisted then had to go through a formal interview with the school's governors before the successful four were appointed.

Miss Kemp and Mr Swaine had to speak to parents in the playground, deal with issues throughout the day, write the 'Newsflash' – the school's newsletter – meet the builders for the weekly update and deal with all the issues which head teacher Lesley Bowyer has to deal with on a regular basis.

Miss Eve answered the phone, provided a warm welcome to visitors, counted and recorded the dinner money and performed day to day administration work at the school. Mr Spence also had a busy day which included clearing leaves, meeting the builders, checking CCTV footage, preparing risk assessments and routine boiler checks.

Mrs Bowyer said she was pleased with how the day had gone. "People have played along with it, the parents and other children have been talking to Lauren and Eisley like they were head teachers and the builders gave their update to the children instead of me.

"We were impressed with the quality of interviews which we thought would be very difficult for the children but they provided better answers than some adults. You could tell they had been thinking about it and talking at home about it."

Takeover Day encourages organisations across England to open their doors to children and young people so they can see for themselves the processes behind the decisions which affect their daily lives.

Thousands of children and young people took on jobs and worked alongside adults in schools, police forces, fire brigades, charities, businesses, government departments, county councils, local authorities and the media.