Here at the Museum of the Order of St John, we are very fortunate to have numerous work placement students join us; gaining better insight into our historic collections and understanding the working dynamics of a small heritage site.
Most recently, we have had two Year 10 students visit us from the Arts and Media School Islington, Iris and Anzal, who have shared their thoughts from the week below:
Our work experience placement
During our week of work experience, we had a wonderful time at the Museum Of the Order of St John, the staff and helpers were so incredibly nice to us and we couldn’t have asked for a better work environment! — we learnt all about the history of the museum, from the establishment in Jerusalem to the Cadets program. We first heard of the museum through our Careers and Guidance manager, Ms Bailey, who was setting up placements for students in Year 10. When I searched the website up, it occurred to me that it wasn’t open from Sunday to Tuesday, which did scare me a bit. On the first day, me and Iris were introduced to Amie and we talked about what we wanted to get out of this week, (which was vastly different than what actually happened). We set up a system of workers — based on what we thought a museum’s workforce was structured like —.
The second half of the day was more research-based; we met up with Evie, who also helped out at the museum and there was a special tour for us. There were certain parts that were restricted to the public (e.g. the basement, the crypt and the 500 year old staircase) that we were allowed to access. Me and Iris also learnt about the fact that the Order was established in multiple countries and was even apart of the Crusades! For our final activity, we had to draw up a timeline of the Museum (which we didn’t have time to finish)
On the second day, we met Josephine — who told us about the Cadets. Our main activity was planning a display case, researching the objects there (including our own) and writing labels/descriptions for them. It was versatile because we were able to make videos for objects that had certain purposes like the bandage spinner video we made, it also gave us knowledge about things we didn’t know before (like did you know that medical manuals were made smaller so that there were quick references for paramedics to fit into their pockets?). Before we left, we prepped for the under 3’s event that was happening the next day.
On Wednesday, the museum fully opened to the public and we had a chance to meet Felicity, Jane and Rachel. Under 3’s Rhymes and Relics was the first event that happened, with Amie and Felicity leading. We gave children bags with toys and torches to explore the different parts of the Garden and the Church. Amie sang and played guitar whilst Felicity led the children to the Church. There was also an unexpected guest, a pigeon that flew into the Church! Felicity tried to coax it into coming down with bread, whilst me, Iris, Amie and Jane tried to encourage it to leave. In the second half of the day, we sat down with Rachel to talk about the surveys that were being given to visitors. We ended up handing out two surveys (as there weren’t many visitors on that day). Before we left, we surveyed how appealing the different activities in the family activity box were for kids.
On Thursday, we met Alex, who gave us some information about the different types of plants, like how some have religious meanings, or how people used to use certain leaves as a primitive version of soap. Me and Iris then had to take turns between the watering can and the hose. They both had different roles though, the hose was for reaching far up rose buds that had aphids on them and the watering can had a nutrient supplement. We hosted a tour, then a small picnic for a group of Year 5 children.
Finally, today, we met Kat, who helped us with finding resources for activities (making bubbles, fake wounds and origami) then writing down what we needed to buy, then making this blog!
Again, we couldn’t be more grateful for everything Amie and the team have done for us this week and it went beyond our expectations! I’ve always had this negative correlation with museums and this week has completely subverted my perspective! We truly appreciate everyone’s presence and friendliness towards us
Sincerely,
Iris and Anzal