Hard work begins at primary school. That was the reminder Suki Dhadda brought to William Ford this week, and it came with some authority behind it.

Suki is a criminal barrister at 2KBW Chambers and a Crown Court judge based in central London, specialising in serious and complex cases including homicide, serious violence, large-scale drugs operations and firearms. She spoke to our children about her career, how she came to work in law, and how the court system works from the inside.

She also ran a dedicated session for Year 6 entitled From Arrest to Sentencing, walking pupils through the entire process from the moment someone is arrested to the point at which a sentence is handed down. The children asked fantastic questions throughout, and Suki answered every one of them with real care and honesty.

It was also a valuable opportunity to step back and appreciate something that is easy to overlook. We live in a society with laws and rules, and with people who choose to spend their careers upholding them for all of our safety and wellbeing. That is worth being thankful for.

Suki's story is a powerful reminder that ambition needs foundations, and those foundations are built at school. Hard work, pushing through barriers, and not letting challenges become a reason to settle for less: these are the things that open doors, whatever career lies on the other side of them.

We are very grateful to Suki for giving so generously of her time and for introducing our pupils to yet another career path worth dreaming about.