On 15 July 2024, we welcomed pupils from Oxford Academy, Coomeshead Academy, and Burford School for a week of work experience. The students were very interested in all aspects of arts and the theatre, and their enthusiasm really showed! Here are the diaries they kept during their time here:
15 – 19 July 2024
Zi | Oxford Academy
I did my work experience at The North Wall. It was a really great experience. I was lucky to have a placement with my friend from school, however I was also very lucky to make two new friends there. Everyone at The North Wall is very friendly. Over the first two days we had meetings with various different members of staff, these meetings gave us an insight into the kinds of things they do for their job. This was very interesting.
Over the course of the week we had to complete individual projects. We all decided to plan workshops for year 6 students transitioning to year 7. It was quite difficult to start with, but overall it was a good way of showing us how much work goes into these kinds of things.
On Wednesday we observed a rehearsal for Rosie and Hugh. It was a stagger through of the show and it was really fun to watch. I personally want to be a performer in musicals when I am older, so it was really interesting to watch an actual professional rehearsal.
On Thursday we got to work front on house for a primary school production of Into the Woods, We also got to watch their show and it was really good. After that, we went back to the office to create a craft related to Rosie and Hugh. We came up with a way to make a hedgehog out of a pinecone.
On the final day we finished up our projects and presented them to Abie and our peers and then we wrote these blogs.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at The North Wall and am sad that it is coming to an end. I met some great people here and made some good friends. I got a great idea of how a theatre operates and further confirmed a career in the arts is for me. I would definitely recommend this to others.
Eva | Coombeshead Academy
When I first applied to The North Wall work experience, I expected my time here to be busy but enjoyable, and it was exactly that. I was very lucky to spend my time with 3 other students who I became great friends with instantly. This created a pleasurable environment as our work days were filled with laughter. Not only did I make great friends, I was privileged enough to meet many inspiring people who work here at The North Wall.
On our first day, we were given a tour of The North Wall centre which consisted of the amazing theatre itself, the many drama/dance studios and the art gallery. This centre soon became home for the week and I definitely enjoyed spending my time in Oxford here. We were given a project to complete throughout the week and present on the Friday, this was definitely challenging but it taught me many new skills. I participated in many meetings such as the ‘Green Team’ where we discussed how to keep The North Wall environmentally friendly. My favourite day was working front of house for a primary school show which we were lucky enough to watch. Working FOH consisted of showing audience members to their seats, welcoming those coming to watch and ensuring everyone felt safe and comfortable in the theatre. I had never done this before; it was an interesting and most importantly, enjoyable experience.
During my work experience time, I’ve learnt that there are numerous amounts of jobs in the arts. We interviewed those who worked here which was one of my favourite parts. The lovely staff gave us advice for out futures and encouraged us to do what we love.
Working and learning about the behind the scenes of theatres made me appreciated and cherish all the performances I have participated in as well as watched. We had the amazing opportunity to watch The North Wall’s production of Rosie & Hugh’s Great Big Adventure which is a musical for 3–8-year-olds and their families. I thoroughly enjoyed this as I learnt about what goes into a performance. Overall, I enjoyed my time here at The North Wall and I most definitely recommend it to others.
Rubymae | Oxford Academy
I was lucky enough to do my year 10 work experience at The North Wall Theatre, Oxford. I was looking forward to spending a week at The North Wall as I had previously been there on a school drama trip to see Brown Boys Swim.
Upon arrival me and three others were given a tour by our amazing work placement supervisor Abie, and I felt immediately welcomed as we were warmly introduced to all the staff. The first two days we mostly spent in meetings where we got the opportunity to ask the lovely staff about their jobs and their experiences at The North Wall, as well as their career path that led them there. Everybody we met were very enthusiastic when talking to us and more than happy to answer any questions we had.
On the first day we helped to put away left over props and sets, we also got to have extra time in lighting where we got to work a lighting desk and find out even more about the behind the scenes of a production.
We were fortunate to get to watch a rehearsal of Rosie and Hugh a musical written by Nick Cope. The musical is aimed towards young children however we thoroughly enjoyed anyways and I’m so grateful we got to see it. Then based on the musical we made three items that will later be hidden for an event in the future. We also designed a craft and tutorial for it based on the musical as well for children to complete at the event.
On the Thursday we got to work at the front of the house when a primary school was doing their play at the theatre. We welcomed people inside and then were able to watch their wonderful performance.
Throughout the week we were also working on a project which involved planning a workshop for year sixes transitioning to year seven, and at the end of the week we presented our plans to each other and received feedback, this was a really interesting insight into all of the details that go into planning events like these.
Over the course of my work experience I was also able to make friends with the others, we all got along really well from the start which made the experience a lot more enjoyable and filled with of a lot more memories.
Overall, my work experience at The North Wall was a week I’ll never forget and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of pursuing a career in anything from producing to acting, or even just anyone who is interested or curious about the way a theatre works.
Hannah | Burford School
I’ve been enjoying myself immensely at The North Wall work experience. This is all thanks to Abie and the team. I had the opportunity to speak with employees from several departments within The North Wall, including the marketing manager. We had meetings with the green team in which I listened to them discuss how to decrease unnecessary waste by reducing leaflets . The week was scheduled with meetings and in my free time I had a project to do. This project was to create a drama workshop for year 6 pupils to prepare them for secondary school. This project helped me develop independent work on how to schedule a workshop by using various skills. I presented to my friends and Abie and got useful feedback that I will work on. I was lucky to be able to observe a rehearsal of Rosie & Hugh’s Great Big Adventure where I watched professional actors and actresses stay in their character even if there was a minor problem or mistake. This was a new experience as I have watched plays and musicals but not the rehearsals where not everything was perfect. My favourite part of work experience was creating hedgehogs out of pine cones for a Rosie & Hugh Adventure around The North Wall.
