Work Experience at QUAD - Maisie Year 12

Work Experience at QUAD - Maisie Year 12

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Work Experience at QUAD - Maisie Year 12

29 July 2024

I spent five days at QUAD in summer to complete my Year 12 work experience. During this time I was able to not only learn about the roles of many different sectors in QUAD but I was also given my own time to do practical activities too.

Applying for work experience at QUAD was a very easy and accessible process, I liked how the application form focused on the individuals’ interest in art and film rather than academic ability. Nicola Middler, the Education Curator (who is responsible for replying to applicants) was very helpful and fast with her responses. Beforehand I was given a timetable with my 5 days of work experience planned out. This was incredibly helpful as personally I find It very difficult to manage with taking part in unstructured activities. I was able to refer to this timetable to prepare myself for every day.

On the first day I spent the morning with the Duty Manger and the BFI Programme Producer. The Duty Manager gave me a health and safety induction, where I was shown where everything is as well as the location of the building’s fire exists. I was then handed over to the BFI Programme Producer, Catriona Kelly, for my first activity, which was to research QUAD as a whole. I was provided a laptop, pens and a journal to work with (and could keep these for the rest of the week too). After learning and writing some notes about QUAD I was meant to shadow a Bronze Arts Award session, however the student was attending a family event so could not take part in the session. Instead of calling off the activity, the BFI Programme Producer used the extra time to tell me more about the BFI Film Academy – it is now something I am considering taking part in next year. To finish off the morning activity I interviewed Catriona about her roles and responsibilities within QUAD. For lunch I was taken up to the office where I could sit and have some quiet time to myself, the employees there were very friendly too.

My afternoon activities for the week usually consisted of reflection and research, for the first day it was to explore QUADs BFI short course programme and its benefits To young people.

The second day was the busiest for me. In the morning, I shadowed and assisted an “Open Play” workshop (a session aimed at early years to encourage sensory play and creative exploration) it was very insightful and showed what needs to be taken in consideration for designing a workshop for different age groups. After the session ended, I interviewed Morgan Stockton, the founder of Open Play who is also the Schools in Residence producer of QUAD, she was able to give me lots of information about her jobs and everyday tasks of her role(s). My afternoon activity was to think about what activities I’d like to take part in and then to create my own workshop event listing for that activity.

My favourite day was the third, mainly because I got to watch a morning screening of “Inside Out 2” in the cinema for free! After the screening I was taken up to the Projection Room where the Technical Coordinator walked me through the process of being able to run film though an older model of projector and a digital one. I was also able to watch him perform a brief soundcheck with his colleague. My afternoon activity was to write a review on the movie I had watched in the morning.

Not much happened on Thursday as it turned out one of the people I was going to meet up with was off sick and the other was busy filling in for other members of staff. I used this day to go over everything I had previously taken notes of as well as research and learn about the sectors I would’ve spent the day with. I was confident leaving the building knowing a lot more about these roles in QUAD than I did in the morning. The other staff were very helpful too and open to any questions that I had.

On the last day I was given time to wrap things up, to write this blog but also reflect on my about my time at QUAD.

Overall I really enjoyed my time at QUAD. I really appreciate being given the chance to explore and utilise a real workspace as well as having the opportunity to speak with so many different people about what they do. One of my aims I set before my placement was for me to be more knowledgeable about the many different roles of the team in QUAD but also to be more confident in a work environment. I feel like this week has fulfilled both of those aims and I have definitely been inspired to become more creative myself.

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