Work-Experience Project at St Bees

Tom Wright (G 11-15) reports: It was a pleasure to return to St Bees in May alongside my work colleague and fellow OSB, Fiona Frise (nee Tubman) (G/L 88-95). Together with support from school teacher Mrs McCallig, we facilitated a Year 10 in-house work-experience programme. Fiona is Head of Marketing at React and I am one of React’s Engineering Consultants. When designing the work experience week, Fiona and I created two team-based tasks (one environmental engineering themed and the other being more marketing and project management focused). The students were issued job descriptions for both tasks as well as examples of roles that a project team would usually include (e.g. Project Manager, Client Liaison officer etc). The students then prepared for an interview, including the production of a CV in advance of the interview. Fiona and I had a full day at the school at the start of the week, conducting all interviews and assigning the roles. When each team was finalised, we ran separate workshops focusing on each of our own disciplines and the pathway that brought us both into the positions we now hold following a St Bees education.

Work Experience Project - Tom Wright

After this briefing session, each team planned their week ahead to produce a project proposal that would eventually see the students produce a summary report and presentation (to Fiona and me) at the end of the work experience week. The students also participated in supporting workshops organised by Lucy Cox (L 05-10) from (FedEx), and Oliver Hodgson from Platinum Live. Both workshops were used to help the students develop a solution to the problem that we had proposed. Fiona and I returned to the school at the end of the week to listen to the project proposals and provide feedback. We were both impressed with the solutions they had generated and how each team had planned their route to a solution.

Work Experience Project - Fiona Frise (nee Tubman)

On a personal note, the week-long experience brought back a lot of happy memories for me. It was great to be based at school once again and meet the enthusiastic students. It was clear to me that the new management of the school have captured the same ethos that St Bees will always be known for. It is relatively easy for me to maintain contact with the school (in comparison with other OSBs) primarily due to my being locally based in West Cumbria as well as through my role as Secretary of the Old St Beghian Golfing Society. I believe OSBs with a fondness for the school, both young and old, should play their part in supporting the school as it continues to strengthen and grow. Tom Wright.

 

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