Fifteen venues across the country open their doors to 13 and 14 year olds for the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills’ first Offstage Choices careers events.

Stratford-upon-Avon College, working in partnership with Langley  School, Solihull, is delighted to be part of these national events and will be welcoming young people from the school to the Birmingham Hippodrome on Thursday 12^th November.

Students will meet and experience the work of a number of professionals including lighting and sound technicians, stage managers and those working in marketing and front-of-house. The professionals will share their tricks of the trade and offer the young people the chance to experience working out of the spotlight.

Edward Pinner, Creative & Cultural Partnership Manager at Stratford-upon-Avon College said “As a Founder College of The National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills, it is important for us to help build relationships between industry and education. This event will give young people a very special insight into the employment opportunities that exist in a performance venue. Most young people know what a singer, dancer or actor is and what they do, but how many of them know what a rigger, lighting operator or sound engineer is or does?

“What’s more, there is a skills shortage in many offstage and backstage areas that needs to be addressed if performances and live music events are to be staged successfully in the future. Offstage Choices is about opening young people’s eyes to careers that perhaps they never knew existed.

“Stratford-upon-Avon College has a very special relationship with the Birmingham Hippodrome with whom we are also delivering Creative Apprenticeships. Many pupils from Langley School have come to the college and have been incredibly successful. In July pupils from the school and students from the college shared the stage at Birmingham Town Hall in a ‘Summer Spectacular’ concert. We are thrilled to be involved in a project that brings us all together for the benefit of young people and ultimately the Creative and Cultural sector.”

Terry Clarke, Arts Director at Langley School commented, “We feel that students should achieve their potential, and beyond, in examinations and have the personal qualities and skills to fully exploit the opportunities available to them. Whenever Langley students have moved on to Stratford-upon-Avon College they always respond to the expert guidance and tuition they receive and recognise the strong partnership and similar ethos which exists between the two sites.

“We are excited to be part of the initial phase of Offstage Choices and think that it will provide young people with vital information on careers ‘pathways’ in the arts. We are more and more convinced that the work of the National Skills Academy should be more widely publicised in schools.”

Langley School, based in Solihull is a Specialist School for the Arts, Languages and Training.

ENDS

If you would like more information or a photo opportunity, please contact marketing@stratford.ac.uk|.