WA Public Schools

Hello everyone,

I am nearly half way through my placement at the Department of Education and Training. It has been a great experience. I have learnt so much at my time here. There are so many different campaigns going on at the one time.

I have been part of promoting the public schools across Western Australia, to re-brand the department. There are so many schools that I have contacted to become part of stories for the local newspapers. I had to go and interview the Principal of Shenton College in Shenon Park. That was such an experience as I was controlling the whole situation becuase my supervisor was unable to come with me. I was able to ask questions and lead the story the way that I thought was best. Was so good to finally interview a real person with real information!

In the public school sector I have also been talking with design company to create brochures for regional schools that the Department is promoting. This has made me appreciate my e-mail skills as sending the right message without being pushy was really hard at first. I changed my reply about 10 times before I was happy to send. Creating a brochure with headings and photography has been quite tricky as they are so far away and we are on a time schedule, but the key has been organisation. I'm pretty sure it has only been running smoothly because I have set due dates for all of the sections that need to be completed.

I have been writing media releases for the department as well. I now realise how difficult working in a government department can be. There are so many different levels of approval that need to be granted before any information can be realeased. Even then, there is always a sector that changes the release because they believe that the information contracts what they are saying in a different campaign.

Overall I have learnt to appreciate writing e-mails quickly to the desired effect, getting governemtn approval for media releases and interviewing for media coverage.

Cheers
Bec