Our week of Work Experience at The Mercian Trust
By Emily Tatton and Lois Madden
As Year 12s at Aldridge School, we have to complete a week of work experience. We were delighted to get the opportunity to work with Mark Smith, the Marketing and Communications Manager at The Mercian Trust. Over the course of the week, we have been given a range of different tasks and activities to complete whilst we have been here. Mark said to us in our first meeting that he didn't want to give us work that wouldn't be useful to him and that wouldn't be of use after we leave, therefore all tasks have been beneficial to the Trust and helped us develop our marketing skills and knowledge.
We have done research into various other trusts and compared them to The Mercian Trust. This allowed us to analyse what other successful trusts do and helps us reflect on what our own trust may have to develop or include. Additionally, we supported Mark and visited Shire Oak Academy and Q3 Academy Great Barr where we ran Staff Benefits Roadshows which gave staff insight into the benefits that they can claim as an employee of The Mercian Trust. Whilst at Q3 Academy Great Barr, we met with their Careers & Aspirations Leader, Mrs Meredith, who explained that she had recently supported all her Year 10 and 12 students off on a variety of Work Experience placements. It was great to see how the trust encourages all their students across all its schools to find work experience for the benefit of their future.
Mark has a varied job and as part of this we got to visit other Mercian Trust schools. For example, he took us along to support with a board games club at Queen Mary's High School on Friday afternoon, and on Thursday took us to Studio School & Sixth’s Digital Skills Hub that has recently been developed. These tasks gave us the insight to how marketing jobs vary. His job as a Marketing and Communications Manager requires him to work hand in hand with other employees in the trust to create graphics, advertisements, posters and promotional media to meet their individual needs.
A highlight of the week is when we were given our own design project to complete. We worked with Mark Harris, Director of Teacher Development, to create a series of graphics for a presentation that will be used in the upcoming school year for staff who are looking to climb their career path and expand on their growth as a school leader.
Overall, we have really enjoyed our experience working here and we are grateful that we were given the chance to learn new skills in an area that we are both interested in. We would recommend contacting The Mercian Trust if you are looking for a work experience placement. This doesn't just go for the marketing sector, as we have met other hard-working individuals that have found work experience across different roles in schools and its central teams.