News Work Experience at Headstone Manor – June 2025
1 Jun 2025
News Story
By Martha, Riya and Sam (Work Experience Students at Headstone Manor)
Hi, I’m Martha and I’m a Year 12 student at Nower Hill High School 6th Form. I currently study A-Level English Literature, Classical Civilisation and Latin, and am looking to study Ancient History/Classical Studies/Archaeology at university in the future. Work experience at Headstone Manor has been amazing for showing me the range of opportunities and jobs to do with my passion for history, especially in terms of archive/collection work, and object interpretation and analysis. I loved learning how to handle objects properly and exploring the museum’s archives and collections, letting me see the breadth of Harrow’s incredible past and teaching me the value of my local history. As someone who often visited the Manor House when I was a child, it was great to return and be able to appreciate the exhibits in a more critical and insightful way which was not only engaging but great for developing my analytical skills. Creating our panel on the glasswork of Whitefriars has helped me explore the importance of clear communication and how to share my interests in an engaging and thoughtful way to encourage others to appreciate the rich history of Harrow. I’ve absolutely loved my time at Headstone manor and am looking forward to continuing to work around museums, archives and collections in my future.
Hi, I am Riya, a Year 12 student at Nower Hill High School, studying A-Level Latin, Classics and English Literature. I’m hoping to study Classical Studies at university but my interests cover a wide variety of fields. At school, I’m the editor of our student-led newspaper, and have enjoyed pursuing editing and journalism as a potential career path. However, my initial career interests lie in museum work. This placement with Headstone Manor and Museum has been both insightful and enjoyable, allowing me to explore roles within a museum to help me further my understanding of what the various tasks involved in a museum are, like curating the archives and collections, marketing and engaging with the public. What has been particularly inspiring is seeing in detail evidence of Harrow’s rich history, with our project about Whitefriars Glassworks revealing the extent of Harrow’s industrial past. The team have been welcoming and friendly, making this placement a great introduction to a museum-based work environment. The task has also been rewarding, as the panel we have produced will be displayed at the Diamond Anniversary of the Headstone Village Show in August. I look forward to seeing our work exhibited there and am very grateful for this opportunity.
Hello, I am Sam, Head Boy at Nower Hill High School. I am 17 years old and I study A level History, Politics and Drama and am highly interested in studying History at university as well as finding a job within the field of history or a career with the critical skills I have learnt along the way. This work experience placement has been really eye opening due to vast amounts of opportunities and job roles there are to working in an institution such as Headstone Manor Museum and others just like it. I have particularly enjoyed working in the archives and seeing how much history Harrow holds. As a person who grew up in the local area and who had visited the museum many times throughout my childhood, I was consistently surprised by the depth of History Headstone has taught me throughout my placement. I am further grateful for the opportunity of creating a panel for the 60th anniversary of Harrow being a borough as I believe the story of Harrow’s history is an integral part of our community and it has been an honour to be a part of. In summary, my placement has been extremely insightful into the field of work in History and would recommend this placement to any young person with an interest such as mine.
Overall, the 3 of us have found this to be an equally creative as educationally stimulating experience, enjoying daily life at the museum (like feeding the ducks on our lunch break!). We even encountered problems that needed to be solved, like accidentally making our panel 8 times too small on our first attempt, which the whole team found hilarious! Nonetheless, we have had a great time and will be taking away both valuable skills and insightful experiences!