Sports Day, Spies and Sandcastles

Work experience at Step was an amazing experience. The week started off with a team meeting, which took an incredibly long time considering each team member was retelling their experiences at different schools. Mainly the most interesting story was from Jez, his sandcastle story was very humorous as his attempt at trying to demonstrate a bible story through sandcastles failed. In the afternoon, after the team meeting I headed off to the snug with Amy, not knowing what to expect. On arrival, I was greeted by Year 8’s who were very supportive of their friend who was participating in Sports day, in fact they insisted they go cheer her on. Two by two, they arrived greeting Amy and myself. Throughout the session I enjoyed getting to know them, especially one student who told an exciting story about how her mother previously worked as a spy, whilst we made loom band bracelets. In general, the snug lunchtime club at Loreto was very relaxed, the year 8 girls shared many interesting stories with the leader of the club, Amy and myself.

As the week progressed on, I gained another new experience, in fact I was given an insight into Step’s interview process both on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, both myself and the other work experience student Olivia, were given the opportunity to play an active role in the interview process by observing both candidate’s lessons and asking questions after they had taught the Year 8’s. It was very interesting to see all of the work going on behind the scenes of the interview and all the different aspects different team members such as Chris and Helena considered when thinking about who they should hire for their new position.

Another of my favourite experiences was the Year 6 transition day at Townsend Secondary school. During the day, there were 4 sessions where Charlotte and Helena led lessons about key experiences that the Year 6’s could relate to. A key moment of the lesson was the activity about famous friendships both in real life and childhood tv shows. As the sessions progressed, the year 6’s were able to name more famous friendships than the previous class, with famous friends such as Woody and Buzz lightyear, The Little Mermaid and Sebastian, and my personal favourite The Powerpuff Girls. Throughout the sessions both myself and Olivia, walked around helping the Year 6’s with different activities such as the butterfly activity, where year 6’s had to write about what they would miss in primary school and what they were looking forward to in their new journey in Secondary school. Both myself and Olivia, were able to help Year 6’s by sharing our own experiences of moving from Year 6-7. Comparing from the first session to the last session, I watched the Year 6’s become more comfortable speaking to me and generally enjoying the activities provided by Helena. I particularly enjoyed getting to know and interacting with year 6’s, especially their interest in different things such as school plays and Food tech. Overall, the Year 6 transition day was a fun experience that I enjoyed and definitely would partake in again if given the chance.