King Edward VI College Testimonial

After completing work experience at King Edward VI College, I received feedback on my performance. Claire Bou-Aziz, Subject Leader for Communication and Culture, left me with many positive comments:

"Abbey has worked exceptionally hard during her placement. She has participated a lot in lessons by talking to students and helping them with tasks set by the teacher. Her communication skills are excellent. She prepared materials for two Communication and Culture extension workshops and facilitated the sessions. She was organised, motivated and enthusiastic. Staff and students have really enjoyed working with Abbey. If she decides to go into teaching she will be outstanding."

I am extremely happy with the feedback I received. It has given me a lot of confidence when approaching media outlets for work placements and I'm sure will reflect positively in my performance in future work experience. I believe working at King Edward VI College was a very useful, helpful and insightful process.

Abbey Hartley

King Edward VI College Work Placement Report

In January 2013, I spent two weeks at King Edward VI College in Stourbridge, gaining some insight into the career of teaching. Being a teacher is a possibility for me, so I thought getting some hands on experience within the sector would be vital and insightful. 

As a previous student at this third placed sixth form college nationally, I studied the subject of Communication and Culture. This is where I first discovered my passion and interest for media study. I enjoyed this subject so much that I achieved an A* at A Level, indicating that I had a natural flare for Communication and Culture.

During my two weeks at King Edward VI College, I assisted in Communication and Culture lessons, as well as some Film Studies and English classes too. I talked to AS and A Level students about their coursework and used my knowledge and experience of media to help them improve their writing. Watching over a lesson being taught has also provided me with a vast amount of information about teaching skills and techniques.

I challenged and pushed myself during my two weeks of work experience. I never thought I’d teach a lesson in just three days of settling back into King Edward VI College. I led two Communication and Culture extension classes to A Level students, by helping them analyse and understand academic readings. I hoped my experience of university work and an A* grade would significantly help the students with their studies. I was a bit nervous about this task, but it went extremely well. I also gained an insight into the lesson planning process when preparing for these extension classes.

In just two weeks, I learnt a vast amount about teaching techniques and what being a teacher involves. Being a journalist is still my most desired career but teaching will definitely act as a back up.

Abbey Hartley