SSFR Work Experience

Hi I'm Clara! I am a year ten student currently doing two weeks of work experience at Blade Education. I have worked with Blade Education before, behind the scene and on camera. I knew that the work they do would be beneficial to myself and to others and I like the way that everyone works in unison, understanding each other and coming together as a single unit to achieve outstanding and wonderful outcomes. Most work places are a very competitive environment, but at Blade Education it is an equal place where blame is shared, rather than pin pointed on others, and the members work together to resolve the issue at hand.

My first day here was spent reviewing two different websites, both in the name of Blade Education. It was my job to thoroughly search the two sites and suggests changes that could be made to improve the overall affect and message of the websites. I was then asked of me to invite certain organisations and people to the event in November. I also visited Sutton Road Cemetery, which involved a meeting to discus venues and a look around for Common Wealth War Graves. Common Wealth War Graves are grave stones that will be looked after in perpetuity, which means forever. In Sutton Road Cemetery there is an entire section containing only CWWG. It is a beautiful, well kept area that looks completely out of place in the busy cemetery around it. All the graves stones are of the same size and shape, making all those who died equal, no person above another. It is a simple look, with the deceased name, rank, date of death, age of death and a message from those close to them.

On the second day I researched secondary schools in Southend and invited them to our poppy memorial in November. To do this I had to find contact details, addresses and names of the Head Teachers there. After completing this, I posted the letters to the schools. We also visited Leigh Cemetery, to find Common Wealth War Graves.

Day three involved a visit to St George's Catholic Primary School. The year three students had been researching and exploring their families past and any great-grandparents that had been in either World War. They had a trove of items, including a near pristine diary, a nurse’s kit bag and a large collection of information, pictures and stories from their family past. Through doing this work the students are able to feel involved in their past, which connects them to their past. Many children are not aware with what really happened all those years ago, even I didn't really understand. This project involves the next generation and helps them to understand the war. The students came in, in groups of four and were interviewed about their recent visit to the Poppy Wave and about their families past. This was a really good activity because it gave the students a chance to share their family's history. This project has also helped to unlock their family's past, one family finding a great-grandfathers soldier's uniform in the attic that they didn't know that had!

On day four we spent the day at Hinguar Primary School, making poppies in their spacious play ground. We had groups from reception, year two and year six. All the students involved made a poppy (some making as many as 7!!) and enjoyed the experience thoroughly! It was a fun day for all taking part. After the visit to Hinguar, we met with Ian from the Parks department to discuss the plans for the Poppy Exhibit in November. We talked over possibilities for how the poppies would be displayed and the artist’s contributions to the day. We went through the path way that people would walk and the procedures for the day.