Member Article

New Creative Traineeship Programme Launches

Young people with a love for fashion and music are being offered a traineeship that will provide the opportunity for work experience within the creative industry as well as essential skills to take in to the workplace. This new scheme, which will start this November between Kaplan and This Is Creative Enterprise (TICE), will provide 7-week government-led traineeship programmes for young people aged between 16 – 18.

Kaplan, one of the UK’s leading providers in education and training are now working with TICE, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting young students in exploring the creative sector, have come together to create the ideal creative traineeship programme. Traineeships are designed to help young people who want to get an apprenticeship or job but don’t yet have the appropriate skills or experience. This scheme will provide a 4-week work placement within some of the North East’s leading creative organisations plus 3-weeks training with Kaplan and TICE. Students will be introduced to the career path options within the music or fashion industry and will have the chance to gain hands-on experience such as working in the recording studio, visual merchandising, customer profiling, e-commerce and retail work experience as well as employability training from Kaplan and sector training from TICE.

Freya Ayriss, who took part in the pilot scheme in the summer, describes her involvement: “I had an amazing time, meeting new people, learning the industry terminology and getting to know everything I could about the fashion industry in such a short space of time. This has given me the confidence to look further into the fashion industry and whether a job in the industry would be something I want to do. Overall the experience has been great, and has definitely made me think a lot about my future.“

Supporting the scheme and sharing knowledge and expertise with the young people are local businesses Generator and Beatdown Records as well as management and publishers of well-known music artists including Jake Bugg, Adele, Mumford & Sons and Coldplay, amongst others. Retailers involved in Newcastle include Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, Topshop and Jules B.

Jennifer Barrett, managing director of TICE and fashion mentor said: “These traineeships are centered on young people being able to access entry and experience in the creative industries. It’s extremely hard for a young person starting from 16 years to gain relevant work experience in this sector or for companies to take them on due to their lack of skills. In addition to the specialist creative and employability training they receive, we are working with very forward-thinking companies who recognise the benefits in starting to train young people of this age. With everyone working together there’s a very positive outlook for young people and creative traineeships.“

Danielle Kershaw, national traineeships manager for Kaplan said: “Kaplan traineeships combine real work experience, employability skills and on the job training to help young people get their career off to a flying start. “Kaplan has been delivering traineeships since August 2013 and are seen as the leaders in the field. We work in line with Ofsted expectations to ensure Kaplan endorsed creative courses offer students all the skills and support they need during their first experience of creative industries – so the students are in very safe hands.“

Open Days are taking place for anyone interested in enrolling on to the course and the next Open Day takes place on the 3rd November in Newcastle. The first course starts on the 9th November. www.thisiscreativeenterprise.com

Further Information

Kaplan Creative Traineeship

No cost to the student

Up to 4-weeks work experience in a fashion or music related role

Studying a specialist fashion or music related 2-week delivery plan

Help with CV writing and interview skills

Help with next steps after completing the traineeship, whether it’s sixth form, a Kaplan Apprenticeship, further education or employment

Travel expenses – covered throughout the duration of the traineeship A £100 voucher toward suitable interview clothes for all learners

Eligibility

Aged 16-18. 19 year olds are eligible but only providing their 19th birthday is between 01/09/15 and 31/08/16.

Not yet achieved Level 3 qualifications (No more than 1 A level or 3 x AS Levels)

Will be ready for employment, further education, sixth form or apprenticeship within 6 months

Must be motivated to progress into one of these destinations

First cohorts of creative traineeships start 9th November 2015

Delivery

2-weeks sector specific training Mon-Fri (10am-3pm) (delivered by TICE)

1-week employability training Mon-Fri (10am-3pm) (delivered by Kaplan)

100 hours work placement training over approx. 4-week period (with leading creative companies) For more information on traineeships:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/traineeships-programme TICE This is Creative Enterprise (TICE) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting young students in exploring the creative sector as a potential career. Since 2006, TICE has provided creative educational programmes, competitions, projects, short courses, careers days, STEM days and much more as additional and integrated support in primary and secondary schools throughout the North East region. www.thisiscreativeenterprise.com

Kaplan Kaplan, part of Kaplan, Inc is the UK’s leading global provider of diverse education and training. Programmes include professional accountancy and financial training, vocational qualifications and Apprenticeships, financial markets, postgraduate and undergraduate degrees. Kaplan combines 70 years of educational and learning excellence with leading online learning technologies, award-winning study materials and support from the industry’s most experienced tutors and assessors who are dedicated to ensuring success in your studies. www.kaplan.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gaynor Ellis .