Our staff at Chilstone were pleased to be invited to speak to the pupils at  Meadows School in Tunbridge Wells, offering advice about work experience. This school is run by Barnardo’s, supporting children with additional needs, helping them to pursue new experiences to gain independence and opportunities for personal development.

We were given a warm welcome at the school and many pupils showed an interest in what we do at Chilstone. The young people in the upper school and sixth form were offered the opportunity to email our General Manager with a professional-style letter to introduce themselves and their interests to gain work experience in our workshop at Chilstone. Our General Manager was impressed by the response.

Three pupils were chosen to visit Chilstone, roll up their sleeves and get making.

Our workshop manager showed the pupils how things run at Chilstone and with the help of our skilled stonemasons, the pupils got stuck in, each making a section of a garden sundial.

The pupils worked diligently. Our staff were impressed with their attitude and application. The Meadows School pupils followed the lessons from our skilled craftsmen so well that they produced a quality sundial. It takes time to produce cast stone to a high standard, so we were surprised by how well the boys did. They paid attention and asked questions, taking great care to make their own section of the garden ornament. We were so impressed with the quality of their work that we had the sundial plinth engraved with the pupils’ names and gifted it to Meadows School as a lasting reminder of their experience at Chilstone. The pupils were also given letters of recommendation to help them find future work and work experience.

The boys were surprised to see their sundial presented to them at school. It will be situated in the school grounds for all the pupils to see. There were many young people keen to hear about their experience and to see the finished sundial. The young people seemed so proud of their achievement.

Our staff enjoyed working with Meadows School and their pupils. Well done to these young people. It was a pleasure to see them flourish in our workshop. The real sense of pride in their work was clear when we unveiled the sundial in front of their classmates at school. We wish them best of luck with their future employment journey! Thank you to the staff and Headteacher, who made our Chilstone team so welcome.