PRIMARY school children from York went head to head to produce their own marketing films for insurance giant Aviva Life.

The teams of youngsters from Tang Hall School spent a week working with students from the University of York and the firm's marketing team to learn about advertising. They then filmed their own advert in school and presented it to a Dragon's Den-style panel comprised of head of marketing Neil Costello, head of direct marketing, James Henderson and CEO David Barral, to showcase their work.

Mr Costello said: "The children had put in so much effort beforehand - as I said to the rest of the panel, I think our jobs might be in jeopardy."

About 21 children, aged nine and ten, took part in the project and the winning team on the day were Amy Moore, Isaac Amtomah, Salma Belhasen and Maisie Dear (who was off school ill on the day) with their advert for pet insurance.

Throughout the week the children were introduced to the fundamentals of marketing through classroom lessons, including an hour session led by Aviva.

They were provided with a marketing brief to create and film their own advert which they presented in the boardroom at the firm which is based in Wellington Row.

Deputy head, Bev Pawson, who led the project in school with student teacher Clare Tremayne, said: "I think that the children learnt an awful lot about the process of advertising, and also they understood the very difficult concept of advertising in its many guises."

The week was part of a scheme led by York Children’s University managed by charity York Cares and the Children’s University Trust which works in partnership with schools, businesses, universities, City of York Council, key cultural partners and York Students in Schools (YSIS) to offer children opportunities to link real life with learning.