THE Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has joined forces with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Kelvin College to launch an opportunity for S6 pupils at Glasgow secondary schools to experience training at college and work experience at Scotland’s world-class performing arts institution while still attending school.
The new initiative, called Creative Pathways, is recruiting up to 12 young people interested in working in dance and drama activities, to join the year-long pilot which focuses on supporting them into further training or employment.
The blended programme offers the young people the opportunity to gain credits towards a qualification as well as invaluable workplace experience.
It will also enable the pupils to compete more successfully for Modern Apprenticeships and other job opportunities as well as offering a potential progression towards continuing their studies at college, university or at a specialist performing arts institution, such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
The successful applicants will be supported through a personal learning plan and sessions with specially-trained RCS mentors.
They will spend two afternoons at Glasgow Kelvin College and one day per week working at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, assisting tutors with dance and drama weekly classes for children and young people.
The closing date for applications is Thursday 18 June with the programme set to start in August.
Andrew Comrie, director of Academic Innovation at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland embraces inclusivity and is passionate about ensuring that individuals have the opportunity to realise their potential.
“We are delighted to be working with partners Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Kelvin College to deliver this creative opportunity which enables young people in Glasgow to take positive first steps into the performing arts and explore its potential for work or further study.
“We look forward very much to working with the first group of young people this August and hope this ground-breaking experience will give them a worthwhile and first-hand insight into the potential for future work or study within the performing arts.”
Abigail Kinsella, principal officer, Employment and Skills Partnership Team – Education Services at Glasgow city Council said:
“This pilot aims to increase the numbers of young people accessing industry-recognised, national qualifications while they are still at school, as part of their senior phase of secondary education, building experience of the work place as they do so.
“We are delighted to have helped establish a creative pathway for young Glaswegians to get on in the arts in a city renowned for its culture and creativity.”
Notes to editors
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Founded in 1847 and launched by Charles Dickens, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) is one of the UK’s most internationally distinguished conservatoires.
It has a student population of 1,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. there is a large community of international students drawn from around 60 countries.
At RCS there are around 500 public performances each year selling 59,000 tickets to audiences around the country.
RCS is the only conservatoire, outside of the Julliard, to offer degree level tuition across the five performance disciplines – drama, dance, production, music, screen.
REF 2014 results revealed RCS research in music and drama had the strongest impact of any HEI research undertaken in Scotland. T
he proportion of our research judged to be world leading or internationally excellent has risen by more than 50 per cent and within the conservatoire sector, RCS held its position since 2008 (ranked No3 in the UK for research in music, No4 for drama).
Find out more about the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: rcs.ac.uk
Glasgow Regional College
Glasgow Regional College area has been identified as an Early Adopter area for the implementation of projects to support the Developing Young Workforce agenda.
Longer term, ambitious Governmental targets have been set for the national rate of youth unemployment to be reduced by 40 per cent by 2021.
Glasgow City Council has been working closely with SQA, Skills Development Scotland, the three local colleges and employers to design and develop new pathways into employment, which incorporate blended learning delivered by multi-agency partners.
This partnership approach is committed to raising the career aspirations and attainment levels of many of Glasgow’s young learners, especially those who may have been predicted to secure less positive, sustained destinations on leaving school or college.
Media information from:
Katie Bell
k.bell@rcs.ac.uk
mobile: 07834 785014
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Contact: Katie Bell
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