Many students have the opportunity to undertake a work placement here at the Castle. Fleur, a recent student completed a diary of her time with us. Here she gives an insight into her experience.

01/02/21 – Day 1

Today was my first day at the majestic Highcliffe Castle, however not in person but in spirit…It started with a greeting call from Lily, the Volunteer Co-ordinator, and my first assigned project. The project is about reviewing Highcliffe Castle’s website and social media as if I had never seen it before and was planning on making a visit. I began by sifting through the website looking for any nuggets of information that stuck out to me. Once I finished this I began scrolling through their Instagram feed once again looking for any pictures that I was more drawn too – I definitely had a few favourites! Three-thirty zoomed round and I was back on another call with Lily, checking in on my first day. Lily also showed me how to log my hours on the website designed for people who are not quite tech savvy…so I managed okay! I look forward to tomorrow for another day at Highcliffe Castle!

 

02/02/2021 – Day 2

Today has been all about research…. research, research, research! I am a little biased as I have had the pleasure of visiting Highcliffe Castle and its grounds many times; however, my day of research was looking at the Castle and its website as if I had never seen it before. The website is wonderful – yes and filled with lots of exciting activities although a few more videos would be appreciated as I really enjoyed watching a two/three-minute video on Cottesbrooke Hall’s website of their grounds. Lily has been once again very supportive and great to have on hand, and I look forward to our catch up tomorrow (I really hope she is happy with the work I have done so far!).

 

03/02/21 – Day 3

What a successful day it has been! I had a 10:00 call with Lily which was great as we got to speak about everything I had done so far, however Lily did put me in the hot seat with the question “if you were an alien how you would you describe Highcliffe Castle to me?” My initial response was “an alien?” …. made me chuckle. Afterwards I added the last few points to project one whilst Burt my dog lay next to me snoring, so, so loud. I had another call with Lily at 15:30 which entailed us discussing project two and how to go about creating a children’s nature photography trail – it was super exciting! I would definitely say it’s another day well spent!

04/02/21 – Day 4

Today I began looking at the planning of the nature and photography trail.  I went in search of fun facts, top tips, and jokes all to make it even more exciting. I then started writing out some questions that I could potentially use. Later on, I had a call with Lily where I went through everything I had done so far. Lily then set me another task of creating a Valentine’s Day activity sheet on Canva, which included laying out some text and making it so you can make a card and/or a hanging ornament.

05/02/21 – Day 5

Today I began the Canva poster. I have used Canva a few times for college work however I haven’t really made anything like this before, so it definitely was a little bit of trial and error. I would say I have created something… I am not too sure if its what they are looking for, but I gave it a go!

08/02/21 – Day 6

Today I continued working on the photography and nature trail! I found a few more fun facts and wrote out a few more questions. I am really pleased with everything I have done so far for it and I think it has potential to be a really fun trail! I had a call with Lily earlier on and she gave me some positive feedback. Now I am just starting to look at the layout and the design of the trail. I’m definitely looking forward to doing more on it!

09/02/21 – Day 7

My day began with a call from Lily, we discussed that I need to do some more work on the Valentine’s Day sheet and a little bit more LOVE needs to be added. I think I have succeeded in making it more lovey – dovey, however I think there are a few tweaks here and there that still need to be made. I think it should be finished by tomorrow ready for the big day!

 

10/02/21 – Day 8

Today started with a mini photoshoot for me and Lily, we both clearly love having a photo taken…I won’t lie I did make a bit of an effort (washed my hair, removed the scarf and blanket)! I continued throughout the day finishing up the Valentine activity sheet, adding the final tweaks! Feeling super excited for this to go on the website! I have definitely surprised myself with it, especially because I am not the most experienced with Canva! I look forward to putting this on my CV!

11/02/21 – Day 9

A new day and a new project, how about that? My new project entails creating an activity sheet for Mother’s Day. I felt much more confident this time as I am more used to Canva! I chose floral and I ran with it! It’s my last day tomorrow and I have had such a wonderful time!

12/02/21 – Day 10 (FINAL DAY)

What a bash it’s been! It’s my last day and I am just adding the final touches to the Mother’s Day activity sheet. I have really enjoyed the past fortnight, working on Canva, and starting up ideas for the nature trail. The thing I probably enjoyed most was creating the questions for the photography nature trail. It was also really nice to have daily calls with Lily and check in with what I am up too! The last couple of weeks have really given me the opportunity to expand my creativity and develop my ideas!  I am thrilled that I can talk about this on my CV and super excited that some of my work will be featured on Highcliffe Castle’s website! 

Student at laptop

Find out more

If you have been inspired by Fleur, you can find out more about our work placements here.