Member Article

NHS and Studio West – a healthy venture

A local student has been gaining from a unique opportunity kindly offered by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in conjunction with his studies at Studio West.

Zack Stone, an 18 year old student from Studio West is currently mixing his studies at school with time at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. He has been working in the coffee shop and main restaurant serving customers and in the coming months will also cover other areas of the catering department such as patient meal service, retail shop and the kitchen.

Studio West is the first Studio School in Newcastle upon Tyne, and has students from 13 – 19 years old. Having opened in 2014, it uses real life enterprise projects to teach students practical skills as well as academic subjects including English, Maths and Science. The support of major business partners creates a unique blend of education and helps immerse the young students in the world of work.

Zack said ‘I have really enjoyed working at the Freeman Hospital, it’s been really busy but a brilliant learning experience. I have been able to use the skills I have developed in my Hospitality course at school in my work placement and vice versa. I look forward to working in other areas, especially in the main kitchen’.

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are one of the schools’ key supporters and host Zack two days a week throughout his Year 12 and Year 13 studies. To gain the placement Zack had to go through a full recruitment process, preparing a CV and covering letter and then going for an interview.

Kevin Potts, Assistant Catering Manager, has been very happy with Zack’s performance to date, he said: ‘Zack is very enthusiastic about learning new skills and because of his willingness to learn he has worked well within teams he’s worked with so far. He has good attitude towards customers and his work colleagues’.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam McLoughlin .