Students from Richmond College took a trip to Greenwich to participate in a work experience programme for Special Educational Needs learners at the National Maritime Museum last December.

The pupils are part of the colleges Supported Learning department and their role at the National Maritime Museum was to help enhance visitor experiences at the museums ''Sea Things" exhibition.

Gagandeep Nangpal, RuTC Supported Learning student, said: “The work experience at the National Maritime Museum allowed me to learn about many different job roles in the museum and I enjoyed talking to the visitors to improve my customer service skills.”

The exhibition lets visitors explore objects, such as a pocket watch worn on the Titanic or an Ancient Egyptian ship model, one of the oldest artefacts in the museum’s collection.

Students learned to gather, remember and communicate facts about various displays and they helped visitors to discover objects’ stories.

Mistu Butler, RuTC Supported Learning teacher, added:“Museums are an excellent place for our Supported Learning students to gain valuable life experiences as well as transferable skills, such as team work and communication.

"Working for an afternoon for the customer service team at the National Maritime Museum built the students’ confidence and allowed them to understand how different customer skills are needed in different organisations.”