A Ron Dearing UTC sixth form student has helped design marketing material for Hull’s Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) tech hub during a two-week work experience placement.
Harrison McLaughlin, 17, completed the placement, working on a brochure to promote the business to corporate clients.
Linsey Brown, Head of Partnerships at C4DI, one of the UTC’s Major Partners, and Tina Swann, C4DI’s Community Engagement Manager, said they were impressed by Harrison’s approach to the placement and response to the brief they set for him.
Linsey said: “Ron Dearing UTC students are so mature and have great confidence when they leave school, which ensures they’re work-ready.
“Harrison went through an interview process for his work experience placement, so it felt more formal and enabled him to sample what it’s like when applying for a job. We treated him as a member of the team for the whole placement and he was so enthusiastic.
“We’d definitely consider taking on one or more Ron Dearing students for work experience in the future, looking at mini projects and tasks at C4DI.”
Year 13 student Harrison, who is studying Maths and Physics at Ron Dearing UTC, will be acknowledged in the marketing material when it is printed.
Harrison said: “It was a great two-week placement during the summer holidays and kept me busy doing something I’d never tried before.
“I spoke to various business owners at C4DI about my future and what I wanted to do when I leave the UTC, which helped me to network with lots of people.
“I enjoyed choosing the colours for the marketing material and designing it to ensure it keeps the reader’s attention for longer. I learnt a lot and I would 100% recommend C4DI for work experience.”
Lisa Regan, Assistant Principal – Horizons Professionalism at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “This was the first time C4DI took on a Ron Dearing UTC student for a work experience placement and it worked brilliantly.
“Harrison loved working on their corporate client marketing brochure, managing the product from start to finish with various members of the team.
“This was a step outside of Harrison’s usual comfort zone and he said it helped him to become more confident in the knowledge he is skilled in a wider range of areas than his current academic focus.”
Ron Dearing UTC students are now securing work experience placements for this summer. Businesses that would like to offer opportunities are asked to email Lisa Regan via lregan@rondearingutc.com