In March we welcomed Megan from The Hart School, Rugeley for a week of work experience with the team at the Staffordshire History Centre. Read more about Megan’s experience below.

“In my opinion, my work experience placement was very effective and enjoyable. It really opened my eyes to the world outside of the classroom and was something new to try. I chose the History Centre to be my placement because history is a potential career path for me and I quite like the subject at school. To me, history is incredibly interesting and the History Centre influenced where I want to work ideally in the future. I have seen some fascinating things during my placement week, here is a breakdown of what happened each day.

Monday

On my first day, I was given a tour around the centre and briefed on all the fire exits and safety precautions. My first task was to make boxes ready for documents to be placed inside. I also got to see a book where the pages were made of parchment and told how parchment was made. After lunch, I did a research project on the history of tea and tea-figures, learning a great deal about the iconic beverage and where it originated from.

Tuesday

For this day, I was at the Museum Collection Stores where I saw many different objects and had a tour around the different shelves full of items from all different time periods. My first task was to wrap and relabel items. This ranged from small tea sets to soap bars to whistles and were very interesting to look at and hold. In the afternoon, I was tasked with noting down objects and re-wrapping them in tissue paper along with tying the labels back onto the items. I saw many food related items and it was quite engaging to see so many different things from older eras of time compared to the one we are currently living in.

Wednesday 

I was now back at the History Centre and for my morning task I was asked to do some strips of different watercolour techniques and read a copy of an old document, and I was given a transcript that I had to fill in some of the blanks. This task is where I learnt the art of palaeography – the study of old handwriting. This skill was further honed when I was asked to read and record information from a large book that contained the names of people who entered a Victorian workhouse during the First Word War.

Thursday 

In the morning, I was helping prepare for some activities that were going on next week, including some more watercolour paintings and researching about some items used during the First and Second World Wars. Then I recorded more information from the workhouse book in the afternoon.

Friday

I started off my morning with looking at another record book with the Public Service team at the centre, this book contained information on officers that were once in the police force. My afternoon consisted of more preparation for activities and writing this blog.

In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed my work experience, and it was a great opportunity to get out into the world of work and see how things really function. It is also a good chance to witness things outside of a person’s normal routine and trying something like this is a fantastic way to do it. I loved everything that I did at Staffordshire History Centre and if you enjoy history, it is a wonderful place to go to.”