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Students take work experience week at council

Release Date: 23 July 2012

16 students from across the district took part in work experience at Stroud District Council this week. From office work to canal development the experience has appeared to been valuable and much appreciated from all the temporary young 'staff' who were pupils from Katharine Lady Berkeley School, Wotton-under-Edge and Rednock School, Dursley.

The work experience at the council included office experience and a range of specialist areas which allowed the students to think about their future career plans.

Myles Rawstron-Rudd, 15, of Katharine Lady Berkeley School, said: 'I worked in communications for five days with Kam Mistry learning about media and journalism as well as marketing. One of my objectives was to produce a press release on our work experience, so if you are reading this then fortunately I have succeeded!'

Emily Osborne (KLB) had an interesting week working in animal welfare with the council's dog wardens. She said: 'It was far better than school and I have learnt so much more. From my point of view, this experience has been worthwhile and very valuable. I would recommend that any students come to Stroud District Council for their work experience. The week was run exceptionally well, with each student having a mentor in their chosen area. Stroud District Council has so many different departments doing varied things.'

Louis Greenhall, 15 from Rednock School, worked with the democratic services team and expressed a very positive view saying: 'We attended seminars and briefings on political issues, elections, asset management and many more areas of the council's work, with Councillor Nigel Studdert-Kennedy, who was happy to be referred to as NSK, sharing his knowledge about being a councillor and this enabled the us to gain some of the expertise that could encourage us to follow in his footsteps as a long serving councillor.'

Nick Butcher, 15, (KLB) described his experience: 'The work experience is very enjoyable and helpful; I was surprised by the informality of the office and expected more shirts and ties'.

Jack Carter-Taylor (KLB) enjoyed his time with the canal development team saying:

'It's much better than school! I found it practical and easier to learn'.

Paul Spillane (KLB) worked in legal services for the week and on Thursday visited a court room. He said: 'It was very interesting to finally visit a courtroom and I want to go again because it is something I want to carry on.'

Dan Wilson, 15 also from KLB, agreed, saying: 'Working with the council's asset management team, I enjoyed going off site and the fact that there was no pressure and that it was informal allowed me to learn what an office environment is like. The week was organised by council officers Fiona Hammond and Jackie Godwin and we all felt that it was a great experience.'

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