Engage NewsA blog from Tara, an Edinburgh school pupil, who recently spent two days gaining work experience with the Scottish Goverment.

“My name is Tara Coldwell Brock and I am a fifteen year old pupil from Holyrood High School in Edinburgh.

I am very interested in Scottish politics and the role of the government in Scottish education. I was delighted that I had the chance to shadow the cabinet secretary for Education and Lifelong learning Michael Russell for the day.

Wednesday, December 14
I arrived at St Andrews House in the morning and was greeted by Mr Russell’s friendly private secretary, Steven. Steven went through the day with me at the canteen then introduced me to the welcoming and lively staff at the private office.

During the morning I went to several meetings with Mr Russell. They gave me an impression of how wide ranging education actually is in Scotland and how it goes further than just schools and universities. It also showed me that as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Mr Russell has a lot to do and has a packed timetable.

After the meetings I had the opportunity to ask Mr Russell a few questions. This gave me an insight into why he became an MSP and his views on education.

Later in the day I attended a meeting with the Minister for Learning, Science and Languages, Dr Alasdair Allan and his private secretary Grant. They were very welcoming. The meeting talked about the role of Gaelic in schools and how Scots literature can be expanded.

As a pupil in school you don’t really have any idea how much work and effort goes in to planning our Education system. Over the day I got an impression of how hard ministers work and how many issues they need to deal with.

Thursday, December 15
On Thursday, Grant kindly gave me a tour of the Parliament. It was so great to see the debating room, the conference centre and all of the offices. The building was just as stunning on the inside as it is on the outside.

Later, I went to a meeting of the Bòrd na Gàidhlig with Mr Russell, Dr Allen and Grant.  There I met many interesting people who could speak Gaelic. 

My favourite part of the day was definitely going to the First Minister’s questions. I have only ever seen the First Minister on TV. The debates between Alex Salmond and Iain Gray were definitely the highlight because they seemed to enjoy arguing and made some really interesting points. I also felt very privileged as it was Iain Gray’s last time before he stepped down as the opposition leader.

It has been such a fantastic few days and I have learnt so much from them. I have come away from this work experience knowing so much more about how the government works from the inside. Steven and Grant have a really interesting job. They get involved in important work for Ministers.

They have a lot of variety and meet interesting people. I would really recommend working for the Scottish Government.” 

Tara Coldwell Brock,
Pupil, Holyrood High School, Edinburgh