An insight to work experience at Walford Mill

Report written by Ringwood School student

Before starting at Walford Mill I was a bit apprehensive, as although I was already working I knew this would be a completely new experience. When I first arrived I was introduced to the members of staff who were all extremely friendly and seemed enthusiastic about me spending time with them.
For the first week I worked along side Debbie Kirby the on-site silk weaver who guided me through warp winding several coloured silks to sell in her workshop. When this was completed my next task was to bag up and price the silks ready to display in the shop. I had great fun using my initiative to put together a range of new coloured silks from the single threads she had previously dyed. I was delighted to see the people visiting the mill purchasing the silks I had created. As the week progressed I took on a range of tasks to aid Debbie and leave her to work on her individual pieces.

In week two I began learning the ropes in the shop and in the office; dealing with customers, pricing up new items, displaying the jewellery, photocopying, gathering information for a mail out and using the computers for website design. In doing these I developed lots of new skills that I would never have gained if I hadn't done work experience.   The people who visited were so enthused by the work in the exhibitions and it was fantastic to see the artists' passion for their work being so greatly appreciated.

I would definitely recommend Walford Mill as a work experience placement. Especially for students studying art or textiles. You will learn such a variety of things and will get the chance to participate in many activities you wouldn't be able to anywhere else.

Report written by Corfe Hills School student

Waking up the first day with the exciting yet daunting thought of having to go and work at somewhere other than school was quite nerve-racking,but it seemed all my nervous feelings were for nothing as I found the staff to be very kind and welcoming as I ventured into this new environment of the ' working world'. Although I call it the working world they were very open and laid back to what I should do in my two-week placement, and just suggested tasks that I could do and complete if I chose to. So I had a taster at just about everything I could do, from till working to artist studies.

But even though I did complete many fun tasks I still had to do some photo - copying, leaflet folding, and postcard counting. But these tasks were balanced out by all the exciting new experiences I had on my work experience.

The artist studies that I mentioned earlier was the 'project' I completed while working here, I studied the current exhibition artist, Fiona Rutherford and her fantastic kimono tapestries, and compared her to another artist who was featured in another exhibition that Walford Mill was involved in being Footsteps. I also made a small booklet about Fiona Rutherford. These small tasks I completed will come in very handy with my art projects for my GCSE's and will really add depth to show how I researched new artists in the local community. I also have future references if I have to talk about new artists in my work.

I would recommend Walford Mill to any art student looking for work experience, it was a great two weeks for me and I will use a lot of the makers and artists that I have read about and seen in the two weeks I was here. It is also nice to ease me into the working frame of mind because it is extremely laid back and if you make a mistake or need some advice help is always at hand.


Report written by Corfe Hills student

On the first day of work experience at Walford Mill, I guess I was quite nervous because I didn't really have an idea of what I was going to be doing and whom I was going to be working with. Luckily, in the first two day I settled in quite quickly, probably because everyone was really friendly and supportive. In the first week I helped out in the shop, pricing and putting stock out, as well as serving customers. Working upstairs in the office I did a number of jobs such as photocopier, laminating and cutting out the Mills publicity articles from newspapers and magazines.

Going into the second week, I started working on the computer more and became more confident using the till. Whenever I was given a task, I was always told I could stop when I got bored which was good because it motivated me to finish the task quicker rather than to just give up.

I have really enjoyed working here at Walford Mill and it has been much better than how I imagined. This is probably because everyone is really nice and friendly to work with and it has also given me ideas for projects I could do for my coursework in art at school.

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