Here at The Bottle Yard, we offer work experience to students through Bristol WORKS as part of a week-long placement with Bristol Culture at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. When Covid-19 made traditional site visits impossible this year, the work experience programme moved online, with our team answering Q&A’s and submitting mini films about their day-to-day-work and how they got into the TV & film industry. It was great to be involved with the pilot of this new method of inspiring students. The following blog, originally published on the Bristol WORKS website, explains more.
WORKS offers virtual work experience to partner schools including a virtual workshop with Arts Team and The Bottle Yard Studios
2 July 2020
Due to Covid-19, many young people have lost their work experience placements across the summer months. In light of this, WORKS has been collaborating closely with partner schools, Oasis John Williams and Bedminster Down, to pilot a virtual work experience programme for Year 10 students.
As part of this programme of activities, WORKS has been running a mixture of real work challenges, remote resources and insight films into the world of work, as well as recorded workshops and sessions around post 16 options, apprenticeships and career confidence.
As six students from both partner schools had work experience at Bristol Museum and The Bottle Yard Studios cancelled, WORKS held a virtual workshop instead. Students were asked to attend a Q&A session to meet and interview people from both organisations. They also experienced insight films from some of the staff members they would have worked alongside, and had an opportunity to take part in virtual networking to gain information and guidance about opportunities at both organisations and beyond.
The workshop was attended by the students, teachers from both schools and volunteer professionals, including a Retail Buyer, Business Manager, Arts and Events Apprentice, Head of Digital, Engagement Officer and the Digital Apprentice. The students asked some fantastic questions about the most exciting aspects of their of their careers, how to build resilience, skills needed for the workplace and where the employers saw themselves in five years time!
One piece of advice was that ‘Everything is either a success or a lesson and taking risks and keeping options open is important as students move into their Year 11 studies’.
A huge thank you to Bristol Museum and The Bottle Yard Studios for embracing this pilot and to the students and teachers for their enthusiasm and passion!
As WORKS moves into September, it will be continuing to work with organisations and schools to provide both face to face and virtual delivery to ensure businesses, schools and young people do not miss out on meaningful experiences of work – we look forward to seeing how this develops!