Primary schools across the country are being invited to help their pupils dream bigger than ever before, as Dream Big Day returns for its second year on 27th June 2025.
Dream Big Day is a national event that encourages primary-aged children to explore the world of work, discover new possibilities, and connect their learning with exciting real-world careers – all through a day of activities, visitors, projects and role models designed to expand their horizons.
The idea for Dream Big Day was born after a bedtime story. Founder Colin Bell first had the idea while reading a book called Think Big to his two children. As a secondary school governor, he realised how little time children often get in school to think about their futures in a positive, imaginative way. And how powerful it would be if schools could set aside just one day a year to focus on dreams, skills, and opportunity.
The result was the first ever Dream Big Day in 2024, which saw schools across the country transform classrooms into hospitals, newsrooms, engineering labs and more. One school even recreated a NASA headquarters, complete with a “Mission to Mars” simulation.
This year’s Dream Big Day is supported by a host of leading organisations, including Barclays LifeSkills. Kate McGoey, Head of LifeSkills at Barclays, said:
“Nurturing the aspirations of children and helping them to develop valuable skills from a young age is vital. We are delighted to be partnering with Dream Big Day again. By working together with teachers, we can help empower, inspire and excite young people to recognise their potential, start to explore diverse career paths, and develop goals for a bright and fulfilling future.”
One of the early champions of Dream Big Day, James Hughes, Education Director at E-ACT, brought the idea to life in spectacular fashion at E-ACT Blakely Academy: “Last year, we turned our school into NASA for the day, with dry ice, real Mars Rovers, and a planetarium on the playground. It wasn’t just fun – it was transformational. We hit 100% attendance, and more importantly, we saw children imagining futures they had never thought possible. Dream Big Day isn’t about playing dress-up. It’s about showing every child that careers in science, engineering, conservation and beyond are real, reachable and worth aiming for.”
With youth unemployment and NEET figures on the rise, Dream Big Day aims to show children that career-related learning isn’t something that can wait until secondary school, it’s part of building confidence, curiosity and ambition from the earliest years.
Research shows that by the age of seven, many children have already formed ideas about what jobs they can and, sadly, cannot do. Early exposure to a wide range of possibilities is key.
Schools taking part can access free resources, including lesson plans, project ideas, activity sheets and inspirational videos from role models across all sectors – from green energy to media, medicine to technology. The day is flexible so schools can make it their own, whether by inviting guest speakers, running STEM challenges, linking it to PSHE topics, or exploring creative pathways through art, music and storytelling.
Colin Bell said: “Dream Big Day is about helping every child see that their dreams are worth exploring. Whether they want to be a scientist, a chef, a coder or a conservationist, the seeds of those futures are planted in primary school.”
Dream Big Day is completely free for schools to join, and organisers hope even more primary schools will get involved this summer.
To find out more visit: https://dreambigday.co.uk/
