Gainsborough: Students visit the Standard

A group of Gainsborough teenagers paid a visit the Standard office last week to talk to reporter Claire O’Neill about her job.
Students from the Foundry Learning Centre visited the Gainsborough Standard offices to learn about the newspaper industry, students are pictured with standard reporter Claire O'Neill (w131003-6)Students from the Foundry Learning Centre visited the Gainsborough Standard offices to learn about the newspaper industry, students are pictured with standard reporter Claire O'Neill (w131003-6)
Students from the Foundry Learning Centre visited the Gainsborough Standard offices to learn about the newspaper industry, students are pictured with standard reporter Claire O'Neill (w131003-6)

The young people, aged between 16 and 18, are taking part in the Flare programme run by Community Learning In Partnership (CLIP) at the Foundary Centre.

As part of their course the students are visiting and interviewing members of their community to learn what it is like to work in a variety of different sectors.

They quizzed Claire about all aspects of her role, from her day to day to duties, the qualifications she needed and why she decided to become a reporter in the first place.

“It was a bit strange to be the one being asked the questions as its normally the other way round,” said Claire.

“They came up with some really good questions and weren’t afraid to be direct.”

“Knowing how hard it is at the moment for young people to get in employment, courses like this are invaluable and I was more than happy to help.”

Flare gives the young people the support and guidance they need to achieve their aspirations and gain new qualifications.

It offers a combination of vocational learning, personal and social development and functional skills, such as English, maths and ICT.

Sarah-Jayne Pedder from CLIP said: “The students worked together as a team to develop some questions that they could ask Claire.”

“This gave the students a chance to go to a real work environment, practice their communication skills and most importantly be inspired by a local employee from their community, which they certainly were.”

To enquire about joining the Flare programme, or to find out some more information about the course, call the centre on 01427 677377 or email [email protected]

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