The Bailiffgate Museum offers a week long work experience placement for students in Year 10 and above.
On the first day, students will attend an Introduction and Welcome where they will learn about Health and Safety Procedures and routes to take during a Fire Evacuation. They will also spend time on a tour around the building to familiarise themselves.
During the week, students will spend time in the Collections department, where they will be given an introduction into the museums collections, and gain an understanding of the work involved with handling and maintaining these.
Pupils will meet with the Company Secretary, and will spend time looking into the marketing of the museum and how reputation is managed. This will involve oversight of the museum as a business, as well as the operations side of running a volunteer-led museum. Students will learn about the value of volunteering and the vital role volunteers play in the day to day running of The Bailiffgate Museum. This will also be an opportunity for the pupils to hear about any new projects that might be coming up in future.
One day, the student will work in the Museum shop with the retail volunteer, learning about the value of retail to a museum and the importance of a customer facing role. They will also meet with the Chair of The Bailiffgate Museum and will spend time learning about their role and the responsibilities this entails.
Students will be given the task of looking at the museum and feeding back on areas they would like to see improved from a young person’s point of view. They will also be asked to look at the website and social media pages to see if they have any ideas of how this can be improved to encourage more young people to attend the museum.
At the end of the week, participants will be able to reflect on their week and think about areas they would like to discover more of, as well as looking into different routes into a cultural career in museums.