Earlier this week, students studying Travel & Tourism at @Ormiston Academies Trust’s Stoke High School had a unique opportunity to dive into the world of professional marketing – through a campaign linked to Ipswich businesses welcoming the Ed Sheeran concerts.
As part of the Wolsey 550 ‘Workplace Encounter’ programme, students spent the morning with the marketing team at Ipswich Central, where Marketing Executive Abbie Hayward delivered a digital marketing masterclass. Drawing on successful campaigns like Sip’Swich and Forknight, Abbie shared insights into campaign planning as well as how to create engaging content using camera techniques and editing tools.
Students were then briefed to create Instagram reels showcasing how local businesses have embraced the ‘Welcome Home Ed’ pink campaign. In four teams, they toured Ipswich’s Waterfront, Saints, and Buttermarket areas – selecting the best filming opportunities, capturing content and even meeting the manager of Music World to hear more about the kinds of guitars Ed Sheeran prefers.
After a whistlestop tour of the town, the students returned to the Ipswich Central offices and were given 45 minutes to edit their images and add music with the marketing team on hand to answer questions.
All four groups produced a reel and these were shared on the Ipswich Central Instagram account with people invited to vote for their favourite over a 24-hour period. The winning reel was made by Kristiana, Emi and Mavis . Organiser Hannah Houghton from the Wolsey 550 Project was impressed with all four reels and said: “Thanks to the Ipswich Central team, the students from Stoke High School know a great deal more about what a career in digital marketing looks like.”
Abbie Hayward, who joined Ipswich Central in her first professional role last year, said: “Not too long ago, I was a student at Suffolk New College, so I know how useful it is to get real-life experience of delivering projects in the workplace. I was really impressed with the students’ creativity and their interest in creating something we could genuinely share on our social media feeds.”
Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Comments included:
“I enjoyed learning about marketing trends and different ways of editing videos.”
“I liked how creative it was—and how it linked to the kind of content I already enjoy making.”
This Ipswich Central Workplace Encounter is just one of over 30 events delivered this academic year to students in Ipswich secondary schools, each designed to help young people explore career paths aligned with their skills, passions, and aspirations.”
These experiences are part of the Thomas Wolsey 550 project, made possible through a community grant from Suffolk County Council’s £2 million Ipswich Investment Fund.
