Work experience at Stratford Circus

An account by Geoffrey McCarthy from St Bonaventure’s School

At first, coming to Stratford Circus gave me mixed feelings; I felt nervous because I knew that I would be out of my comfort zone (my school) and that I would be working with people I hadn’t met before. Although this had me a bit shaken, it made me more interested and enthusiastic because I wanted to experience, and try something new. Having the chance to work in Stratford Circus for 10 days helped me meet wonderful people and helped me to see what roles I would be interested in within media and also helped me experience the working world.

The members of staff at Stratford Circus are kind, friendly and welcoming; always wanting to help others with any problems or enquiries.

This work experience is more practical and exciting. Rather than doing boring & dull work, this experience helps people to understand that this opportunity is realistic and gives a proper insight into what the working world is like.

Expecting the first task to be easy and straight forward; I was shocked to the level of belief that my supervisor (Charlene Low) had in me. Giving me my first task, which was for me to phone primary schools and give them information about a show that required me to keep calm and build on my communication skills. Other tasks included involved using creativity and imagination; creating your own company, pitching why you would like to host a show at Stratford Circus, which was a challenge.

Working with the public is apart of the great feeling at Stratford Circus. Doing jobs such as ushering at 3 different shows, observing the elderly ‘Leap Of Faith’ dance class. These tasks test out your team working and communication skills and are a wonderful opportunity to see different activities and roles in Stratford Circus and also different roles in Media Organisations that gives me the chance to experience something new.

Learning the technical aspects of Stratford Circus was essential in my understanding of media industries. During working with the front of house staff, I was able to go beneath Circus 3 and see where things such as lighting are controlled. I also got the chance to learn how seating in the pit area is broken down and where it is stored. Also, learning how to set up rooms for events helped me understand who’s in charge of different areas of the stage and how areas are set up for different types of events.

As a whole, Stratford Circus was a great and new experience which helped me to see:

  • Different roles in media industries and what the roles do
  • How media industries are run on
  • How shows are set-up
  • The friendly hard working staff members who make Stratford circus what it is.

Work experience at Stratford Circus is outstanding (With great working hours). Every day there is a challenging piece of work to do. Every member of staff is friendly. It is a great learning experience and I suggest anyone who does work experience to get involved!