My Gillotts Work Experience at The Henley Herald

Gillotts school set up a week for students in Year 10 to gain work experience by finding placements from local companies, or even some further a field. This week lasted from 2 to 5 May, which immediately followed our Mock exams, so was a nice break from the stresses of school but still getting helpful experience that will help us in later life. Such as when writing CVs, which is something we did for a PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education) day last term.

My experience this week at the Henley Herald has renewed my interest in pursuing a career in journalism. I was able to do some of the jobs that a journalist would ordinarily do, but my favourite part was writing articles and learning about the different styles between them. I also enjoyed conducting an interview, which meant it was important that I knew how to transcribe quotes and write questions for it.

Just so this experience was helpful to me and the Henley Herald, I created a survey about the different media and websites people my ages (14-15) most frequently use. This week particularly has been interesting because of the local election, which gave me a chance to learn more about politics and feel the excitement of finally getting the results. Learning the ins and outs of what it’s like to be a journalist has been really fun and I hope my peers have been presented with the same experiences I have.

This has been a really interesting and important opportunity as it opens the border from school life to work life. I am very grateful to my school for allowing the Year 10s to do this and also very thankful to the Henley Herald letting me work there.