Since my last update I’ve been very busy with apprenticeship work and I’ve had two assessments plus my review!  In my last post I mentioned an upcoming ICT exam which I have now sat and fortunately I passed so that’s one exam out the way. My other assessment was a face to face discussion with my Assessor based on the Module ‘Communication in a Business Environment’. I found the assessment very nerve-racking as we were also being recorded at the same time, so it added to the pressure! Fortunately at my review I found out I had done really well.

The Summer Fayre Event has been and gone and work has now started on the Christmas Fun Weekend! The Summer Fayre went really well and everyone who came had a great time so I was really pleased about it. All the staff got dressed up and got really in to the spirit of the Tudor event; even some visitors came in fancy dress too! As the event is over, my focus is now on the Christmas fun weekend which my colleague and I are starting to plan!

As well as this, another colleague and I recently went to the Wedding Fair at the Racecourse and it was amazing! I loved being there and talking with potential Tullie Brides. I was very nervous before the event as I worried I might have got asked a question I didn’t know the answer to, so I revised the wedding brochure over the weekend! The revision helped a lot and I managed to help the brides to be with all of their questions and queries.

I hope the upcoming weeks will be as interesting as the last few!

Hi all,

It’s been really busy for me over the past few weeks, seems to have been non stop! As two members of

staff have been off, I have been taking on some of their roles on top of mine so my organisational skills have been put to the test!

One area of my work I have been very focused on is the Tudor Summer Fayre. Since my last blog entry I have created a new stand in Tullie’s lobby promoting the event to visitors and I’m currently working on the handouts and signage to put up around the museum on the day.

On top of my work at Tullie, over the past few weeks me and Cassie have been attending ICT lessons as part of our apprenticeship and our exam is tomorrow! So I’ve got my fingers crossed that everything goes ok and we both manage to pass it.

Anyway make sure you come to the Summer Fayre on the 24^th August, from looking at all the activities I can tell it’s going to be an amazing day! 

Claire

These past few weeks have been very busy here at Tullie House! From murder mystery nights to summer holiday activities! With summer coming up there is a lot going on. Claire and I have been helping with the Murder-lite-night event that took place a few weeks ago! We set up an advertisement table which you can see below to make people passing through the museum notice the event and come along! After the table was put up a lot more tickets have been sold and ended up being a very good night!

I have also been busy with my day to day jobs that I do. Press clippings, leaflet distribution, Cumbria live events update, apprenticeship work and much more! So far here at Tullie House I have became very settled and starting to find out my occurring jobs as an apprentice. I am still going forward with my Bronze Arts Award which I hope will be finished by Christmas so I can start on my Silver award.

A few weeks ago I went with Geoff to the Family Fun Day that was taking place at Brunton Park. There was a lot of different companies there all with stalls and activities for the children to do. Me and Geoff brought the insects from the Galleries along for an ‘Animal Handling Workshop’ where the children could come along and touch and hold the insects. There was a lot of discussion between them wondering what they were called and what they do. I really enjoyed doing this because I haven’t worked with the education team yet and I enjoy working with children & young people. 

I came along with all the leaflets and marketing advertisement for the museum and was handing our new ‘What’s On’ that had all of our summer holiday activities in that most families were interested in.

Today is my last day until I jet off for a 3 week holiday so we’ll see what I get up too when I come back!

Katie

I’ve had a lovely week last week as we had graduations in Tullie’s Lecture Theatre. Although the actual graduations took place in Carlisle Cathedral, unfortunately the Cathedral always gets over subscribed so those who can’t get in the Cathedral can watch the graduations via video link in Tullie House. As you walked past the lecture theatre you heard the occasional cheer and applause! I think it’s a lovely idea to have a video link as it would horrible if you have to miss you child’s or grandchild’s graduation, so it’s really nice they had the opportunity to still see it.

As well as the graduations Katie and I made a display in Tullie House’s foyer promoting an up coming 1930’s themed event called ‘Murder-Lite-Night – The Curious Croquet Corpse’. The event is being run by the company ‘Highly Suspect’ who create opportunities for guests to play detective in solving a murder mystery! The event is going to be held outside in the Tullie House garden where games such as croquet and quoits are going to be played! I’m even working at the event so I’m really excited!

I have also just been trained to hold the summer holiday’s activities. I was shown how to set up the area and what the activity is going to be! It’s called ‘Richard Slee’s Play and Play’ activity, inspired by the current exhibition we have in the Art Gallery created by Richard Slee. It involves decorating items you wouldn’t normally decorate and it looks great fun! Definitely an activity to bring the children too!

Anyway, I hope to see you there! I’ve had a lovely week last week as we had graduations in Tullie’s Lecture Theatre. Although the actual graduations took place in Carlisle Cathedral, unfortunately the Cathedral always gets over subscribed so those who can’t get in the Cathedral can watch the graduations via video link in Tullie House. As you walked past the lecture theatre you heard the occasional cheer and applause! I think it’s a lovely idea to have a video link as it would horrible if you have to miss you child’s or grandchild’s graduation, so it’s really nice they had the opportunity to still see it.

As well as the graduations Katie and I made a display in Tullie House’s foyer promoting an up coming 1930’s themed event called ‘Murder-Lite-Night – The Curious Croquet Corpse’. The event is being run by the company ‘Highly Suspect’ who create opportunities for guests to play detective in solving a murder mystery! The event is going to be held outside in the Tullie House garden where games such as croquet and quoits are going to be played! I’m even working at the event so I’m really excited!

The book cover I made for the display

I have also just been trained to hold the summer holiday’s activities. I was shown how to set up the area and what the activity is going to be! It’s called ‘Richard Slee’s Play and Play’ activity, inspired by the current exhibition we have in the Art Gallery created by Richard Slee. It involves decorating items you wouldn’t normally decorate and it looks great fun! Definitely an activity to bring the children too!

Anyway, I hope to see you there!

Katie & Claire at our
Venetian Mask Making Workshop

I’ve had a really nice couple of weeks here since my last update. I’ve been helping organise the Summer Fayre and it seems to coming together nicely. I really like seeing the progression of putting together one of these events as I didn’t realise initially how much work is involved in organising one! This project all came about when I first started at Tullie so having helped develop it to the stage it’s at now feels really rewarding.

On the 28^th June as part of my Arts Award I went to Kate Plumtree’s Venetian Mask Making workshop along with Katie (one of the other apprentices). It was actually really fun and we both learnt a totally new skill in the process! We moulded the mask onto each others faces and had to wait for the material to harden before we could decorate it. Considering everyone in the class had used the same basic principle of how to make the mask, I think it’s fair to say they all looked totally different by the end. I opted to do a simple eye mask, where others such as Katie created a mask which covered ¾ of the face. If I got the opportunity to do this again I would definitely do it again!

Also since my last Blog update I had a meeting with my apprenticeship assessor which went really well. She looked at how far I had progressed and set me some new pieces of work to complete. I also found out my next assessment date, which is in September so I’ve  put that in the diary!

It’s definitely seems like I’ve got a busy year ahead of me!

Claire

Hi everyone,

There has been a lot going on over the past few weeks. I helped out with my first wedding ceremony 2 weeks ago which was really exciting. I helped set up for the ceremony doing checks on technical equipment and greeted the guests, showing them where to go. I was even given the responsibility to help prompt the bride on the right time to enter into the room!

I’ve also had a lot of training over the past few weeks, but not all of it was conventional as the normal health and safety training. I was trained how to handle some exotic bugs! The museum have brought in 6 species of bugs from Blackpool Zoo, so we now have; Giant African Land Snails, Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, Deaths Head Cockroaches, Desert locusts, Indian Green Stick Insects and African Sun Beetles! I’m afraid to say I only managed to hold 3 of the insects as I’m a bit of a wimp!  They are on display in the Borders Gallery and we are soon going to be having handling sessions with the public so they definitely worth a visit!

I also recently I went alongside my fellow apprentice Katie to visit the other museums within the CMC to see how Tullie House and the other museums differ. I visited Blackwell House, Abbot Hall and the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry. They were all really good, my favourite being the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry as it had a street in it representing how the shops would have looked in the olden days as well as a typical living room and bedroom layout. It was something different to see!

I better get back to work, don’t forget to come see the exotic bugs next time you’re passing!

African Sun Beetle

Desert Locust

         

Since my last update my timetable has become very full! There’s never a dull moment! 

I am currently busy helping put together this years Summer Fayre. I won’t give away what’s going to be happening on the day, I’ll just say it’s going to be great fun and you’ll definitely miss out if you don’t go!

As well as the Summer Fayre, I have been taught lots of new skills regarding events organisation, such as how to make room bookings on the computer systems here. I also got the opportunity to help set up the Function Room in the style of a Wedding in preparation for a photo shoot, which was really exciting! I have had a glimpse at the pictures and they look lovely.

On top of this I have been cracking on with my NVQ work and Arts Award. I have made a good start so far and my Arts Award folder is starting to take shape! The theme I have chosen for my Arts Award is Fashion as it is something I am really interested in. As part of my work I have to choose an Arts Hero or Heroine so since my theme is fashion I decided to look at Kate Plumtree whose outfit designs are inspired by Britain’s nature. I love how her creations are so original, they are just totally fascinating.From the 28th June her collection will be on display here in Tullie House and I can’t wait to see it!

Anyway it’s back to work for me, keep an eye out for my next post!

Claire Bell

Apprentice

Well it is fair to say I am now well and truly settled in here at Tullie House. I have now been here for over a month and I have loved every moment of it! The amount of opportunities I have had has been amazing and people are always willing to offer me more which is great.

Over the past month I have been learning lots of new things, like how to set up rooms for events, meetings and weddings as well as how to provide reception services. I loved helping set up for the wedding because once the room was completed it look beautiful and I know I have played a small part in helping to make someone’s big day special! I have also been tasked to help with up-coming events and projects so I am really excited to see how they turn out.

My NVQ work is also starting to creep in and I have been set my first written assessment which relates to providing reception services. I am planning to get this done as soon as possible so it is not a last minute rush! On top of my NVQ work I have recently started the Arts Award project too where, I am aiming to achieve a Bronze level. The Arts Award is a nationally recognised qualification and encourages children and young people to develop their artistic abilities. This will be an extra qualification and I thought it would be a great opportunity to take advantage of while I am here!

I think it is clear to see that my schedule is slowly but surely starting to fill up!

Here is a picture of me with my fellow apprentices Katie & Cassie.

My name is Claire Bell and I am one of the newest members of the Tullie House team! The title of my new role at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust is the Public Programming Assistant Apprentice.

My role entails various different duties, from working at the front desk helping with admissions and greeting visitors to being involved in the administrative side of the business.

I am currently in my second week here and already feel as though I have learnt so much and met so many lovely people! Prior to starting my apprenticeship I was unaware of the vast amount of staff who work behind the scenes here and I must say it has been a challenge to remember everyone's names!  But thankfully everyone has made me feel very welcome and have been nice enough to show me their roles within Tullie House.

So far my favourite activity was having a tour around the stores! Despite Tullie House having a huge variety of items on display, you don’t realise that the majority of artefacts are kept locked away in the stores of the museum! I was able to see items from various collections which were all very exciting! My favourite items were the clothing and old items from the home. Within the clothing section they had outfits which had been worn, in some cases hundreds of years ago and all were absolutely fascinating! Likewise in the home section there were several interesting items such as vintage TV’s, irons and other domestic items used several years ago! I loved seeing how modern day items have been influenced and developed over hundreds of years from very basic ideas!

Despite having learnt a lot in the past two weeks, I’m really looking forward to learning a whole lot more over the next year!