WE WERE pleased to welcome two college students for a week’s work experience in the drama department at Cranbourne where they had a chance to experience school life “from the other side”.

Here’s how they found their week at Cranbourne:

"My name’s Abigail McCormick, I was previously a student at Cranbourne School and I left in the summer of 2018. I have chosen to further my education at Queen Mary’s College, studying Performing Arts Level 2. Part of my course is to complete a week of work experience related to what we study at Queen Mary’s. From coming back for a week to shadow Mrs Affleck-Cruise while she teaches, I finally understand the dedication and devotion the teachers here have for their students. It’s definitely been an eye opening experience as my perspective while observing classes have shifted because I now fully understand how frustrating classes can be, but how fond the teachers are of their students and how much they want them to succeed. Sarah-Louise and I have been completing various tasks for Mrs Affleck-Cruise such as helping her grade performances, and catch up with the work she’s been too busy to complete. In my short stay here, I have helped and interacted with many students, some I know and some I’ve just met. All of them have shown great potential. It has been a really fun and exciting experience for me personally and it’s going to be a struggle for me to say goodbye to the staff and the students again. Thank you to all the staff, I hope we made a difference."

"My name is Sarah-Louise Saywood, I’m currently a student at Queen Mary’s College studying Performing Arts Level 2. Part of my course is to go out to a work placement for the week for work experience that’s related to the course we’re studying at Queen Mary’s. It’s quite a different experience for me as I left school three years, so coming back into a school building was very strange and it didn’t feel normal. It’s amazing to see it from a different perspective as I went to a special needs school rather than a mainstream school. I am shadowing Mrs Affleck-Cruise who’s head of the drama department. Abbi McCormick and I have helped Mrs Affleck-Cruise with catching up on her own work, we’ve been given the chance to grade Year 7/8/9’s drama performances, which is new to us as this isn’t something we’d do at college, by doing this it’s helped prepare us for the bigger future. I’ve been able to interact with different students from different year groups and seen some really good potential. It’s been an amazing experience for me personally because of seeing how mainstream teachers teach compared to teachers who teach at a special needs school. It’s going to be sad saying goodbye to all the students on Friday, 1 March. I would like to say thank you to all the staff and especially Mrs Aplin for allowing both me and Abbi to do our work experience at her school. "