Students from GCSE English took part in a workshop at The Auckland Project as part of their ‘Future Me: Future Proof’ employability unit. Course Leader, Dean MacDonald, explained that,
“This was a great opportunity for students to see the importance of English and communication skills beyond their studies by working with staff from the Auckland Project to look at English in the workplace.”
Students first took part in a marketing activity where they were challenged to design engaging social media content to persuade the public to visit The Auckland Project. The first hurdle: climbing Auckland Tower to reach the 15-metre high viewing platform! Unfazed by height (or pouring rain) the students scaled the tower and started tapping away on their iPads. From architectural features to selfies – and even one Titanic inspired moment – students created engaging content that showed just how persuasive language can be.
Neave Heaton, Senior Marketing Officer for The Auckland Project, and former QE student herself, was impressed by their work, crowning two designs joint winners of the first activity, with an honourable mention to our very own ‘Rose and Jack’ for their creation.
From there students ventured to Auckland Castle where historic site meets Hallmark movie, with Christmas trees and decorations galore. For student Kate Solomons this was the best part: “I liked the castle’s setting, it was amazing!”. Here they learned about the work of the museum curation team and how detailed research is condensed into smaller, more accessible artifact descriptions before trying to produce their own summaries for a selection of artifacts from across the project.
After a private tour of the Castle came the chance to see the newly installed Neapolitan Nativity, which at 11ft tall and 15ft wide and with over 421 individually carved figures, was the pièce de résistance of the day and served as the focus for their final activity of creative writing. It was certainly a great way to mark the beginning of the festive period.
