See double Olympian's message to parents after school tells kids not to be too ambitious when thinking of a career

A British double Olympian has hit back at a junior school that told its pupils not to be too ambitious when thinking up a future career.
Durrington CofE Junior School wrote a letter to parents in which they asked that their children should come to school dressed as what they wanted to be when they grew up for a "My World of Work Day".

However, in a "special notes" section, the Salisbury school said that students who wanted to be "sports people or pop stars or famous YouTubers" should think of a "Plan B" because those careers were "so hard to achieve".

Olympic hurdler Jack Green thought the school was wrong to say that and thanked his own parents and teachers for "supporting" his aspirations.
The 26-year-old tweeted a picture of the letter and wrote: "Have a read of the ‘Special Note’ and then ignore it and let your children aspire to be whatever they want to be.
"Thanks mum and some of my teachers for supporting my aspirations when I was young!"

He added: "It’s definitely a necessity and we must encourage a good education. But the issue here is not letting some children dream and aim high because it’s ‘so hard to achieve’.
"Should we not encourage the plan A and then educate and increase awareness of the journey it requires. Once you encourage that person you then create plan B, C, D and so on?"

Green, who competed in the London and Rio Olympics, was flooded with messages of support after posting the tweet yesterday.
Joshua Spencer said: "What world are we living in where any primary school child has decided what 'proper job' they want?
"They're kids let them use their imagination and dream big. Lets not make them grow up before they need to."

Roisin O'Shea added: "This is so sad to see! Those kids being asked to dream but not too big. They're kids! There's plenty of time for life to step in and trample all over dreams when you're older! Sheesh."

Commenting on the attention the letter got, headteacher Jenny Whymark told Mirror that the flyer's 'special notes' were worded clumsily.
She said: "The reason we have asked children to think about these alternative options is to help us have a really wide range of occupations ‘on show’. This wouldn’t work so well if a large number of children dressed as professional footballers or pop stars, as would be likely.
"I appreciate that the wording on the school flyer didn’t communicate this as well as it might have to parents. I’m sure, however, that when the children talk at home about their learning over the term, it will be clear that they understand the ‘sky is the limit’ for their future."