Lavinia's work experience blog
Lavinia’s work experience blog- day 1
Today I felt very nervous as this is the first time I have ever done anything like this, and I was worried that as a shy teenager in a team of adults, I would be left out. However, as soon as I arrived, Peter made me feel at ease- he showed me around the workplace, I obtained information about everything I was worried about and then he gave me a very insightful induction. I was very surprised by the amount of freedom I was given: Pete said I could go to the toilet whenever I wanted, unlike school, and even leave for lunch to buy food! I quickly found out I had overpacked my bag since everything I might need was given to me or I could buy, such as food, drinks and a notebook. When I met the team all my anxiety dissolved since they were all so lovely and welcoming, I was surprised by how relaxed they were- we had music on and I especially appreciated how hard Neil tried to involve me, thanks to him I really felt included- he is also hilarious and made me laugh. Afterwards I had the opportunity to attend a monthly team meeting where I learnt what Upshot and CEF are- they used advanced concepts and words but they ensured I always knew what they were talking about, for example Neil explained what indices of deprivation means. I then wrote a document to provide YBF with feedback for things like their website and specific booklets, and I almost forgot about lunch! Pete reminded me and after it was finished I continued with my work. After that, I learnt how to register volunteers on the system because there was a recent shoe event where volunteers distributed shoes to disadvantaged groups of people, then shredded some paper (this was really fun!). Now I am writing my first blog! Overall I can say today was much better than I imagined and I already gained valuable knowledge and skills.
Lavinia’s work experience blog- day 2
Today I had the opportunity to visit the Grow farm near Totteridge Academy with Daniella since I told Pete I loved nature. Grow is an organisation that grows food to provide the community and businesses local, sustainable and healthy food. It was honestly the highlight of my week, I got to learn about different types of plants and insects (especially wasps and bumblebees!), see the hens and talk to Daniella whose palpable enthusiasm was infectious. She kindly waited with me for my mum to arrive and take me back to the office, so I got to annoy and confuse her with my excessive knowledge of personality types and cognitive functions. When I returned to the office I finished writing my blog from yesterday, after which I had lunch. Since I finished it quickly, I had the chance to attend an online meeting with Tina in which I learnt about “limitless” opportunities for students. Afterwards Tina gave me a research task which involved finding out about different foundations/organisations and what place, language or religion they serve. Then I completed my 20 minutes of daily shredding and continued registering volunteers of the shoe event in the system. Now I am writing this blog! Overall today was even better than yesterday because of the splendid visit to the Grow farm, which inspired me to visit it again and volunteer on Saturday out of my own interest.
Lavinia’s work experience blog- day 3
Today I got in a car crash so I was late to work but no one told me off of course. Since I didn’t have much planned to do for the day, I began by finishing yesterday’s task of registering volunteers on the system, but I met a very talkative person called Amanda so it took me a while to finish it. I then went for a walk during lunch and when I came back I started working on a review of Young Barnet Foundation’s profiles on social media. After that, I did some shredding and came up with a few questions to ask Janet, the CEO, as I will be meeting her on Monday. Afterwards I didn’t have much to do so I had a lovely, deep talk with Matt (such a nice and cool human!) and I got to know him better. Then a few packages arrived and I spent the rest of my day sorting out packs for schools to encourage children to read. Overall, today was a little more boring since there wasn’t as much to do, but it was still a valuable learning experience.
Lavinia’s work experience blog- day 4
Today I met Christina, a lovely person who will be doing a work experience placement here like me. I sat with her and Pete for her induction and we got to know each other better. After that, Pete got us to put certificates into frames while we were waiting for our time slot to meet Janet, the CEO of the charity. We then got to ask her some questions which was very insightful- she told us about how and why she set up the foundation, what she does on a normal day as well as a lot more information. After that, Pete gave us an introduction to Canva and we got to be creative and make our own banners for our blogs! Then I talked Pete through my social media and website review, and he asked me and Christina what we thought about a few different websites in terms of user accessibility and intuitiveness. Then we went to lunch and since I finished it early I started working on today’s blog. While I waited for Christina to finish her lunch, me and Pete sat together to look over my blogs and add anything that needed to be added. After that, we went down to the FoodHub where we spent the rest of our evening- we removed rotten satsumas from piles, then we sorted out different types of foods such as onions, potatoes, various sauces and milk into cranes, and further separated the sauces into more specific paper bags. Overall today was great, especially since I made a new friend!
Lavinia’s work experience blog- day 5
We started our day with the weekly Stand Up, in which I didn’t say much but I understand its value, since everyone got to announce anything they wanted the team to know about. While I waited for my next task, I went over my blogs and made sure I was happy with them. Then me and Christina put nametags in alphabetical order for an upcoming event, and we did quite a lot of shredding- we also had fun doing other, non-work related things while shredding. Then Shane showed me how to upload my blogs onto the website and add the picture I created on Canva. Subsequently we went to lunch, Pete ordered pizzas and chicken wings for us and we all ate together on the long table. Afterwards, Matt took me and Christina to Living Way Ministries, a place that takes care of children, and then he got us to fill out a form based on our opinion of what we saw- e.g. whether the food, activities, health and safety were appropriate. Overall today was a good learning experience, but I was secretly sad the entire day because it’s my last day I’ll miss the team, especially a few specific people! Because of that I wasn’t able to enjoy things as much as I could have.
Lavinia joined Young Barnet Foundation for one week work experience having completed Year 12 at QE Girls School, Barnet. We thank Lavinia for her work and support during her week with us.
