Whoooosh...there goes another week!

Time travel is, I am sure, possible...it is hard to believe a week has gone by!

Say hello/Say goodby, exciting times and sad times...our students arrive and all too soon have to return home. I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of Spanish Teachers earlier this week - I am always amazed at the language skills and dedication that our students demonstrate - we spent an interesting couple of hours at the excellent Dots Pantry enjoying a coffee and talking about their future plans and how much impact the experience of their time here as Teaching Assistants has had on them. It is so motivating to see and hear first hand the difference that TTPL makes.

One of our weekly highlights is the student meeting...almost 70 students enjoyed the sunshine at Applebys in Torquay - what a fabulous afternoon.

It is a vital time for both the students and the team at TTPL as it is one of the few times when all students come together to meet and chat, an opportunity for us to ensure that everything is ok and that any potential problems are resolved. It is also a great time to make sure that wherever possible we support the work placements that host some of our students.

 To finish off the week Nadine and I went to the Torbay Business Forum at The Grand...an interesting event that was very entertaining - Giles Chichester, a man who has helped us in the past, was guest speaker, what a fascinating insight into the European Parliament. Good to catch up with friends from the Torbay business community too.

So I am looking forward to the weekend and hope you are too...on a personal note this weekend sees something of a milestone for me...on Sunday I will have been 100 days without a cigarette! Feel quite pleased with myself.

See you all next week

Ciao for now :0)

Bank Holiday fun, work placements and a journey underground!

Well I hope you all had a great Bank Holiday Monday...one of the brilliant things about being here in Torbay is the constant supply of things to do. Last weekend, the first May Bank Holiday, was blessed with fairly good weather which is just as well, in addition to the usual seaside activity we had the BMAD motorcycle festival in Paignton, a Food Festival in Torquay and the annual Pirate Festival in Brixham - great fun for all involved and almost wall to wall Festivals! The Bay was really buzzing!

Once again we hit the working week with some great students being introduced to their Work Placements, this time it was some German engineering students and a Spanish Telecoms Engineer - It is always such a pleasure to take such enthusiastic young people to begin their placements.

We are also revamping our Work Placement brochure - so watch this space! 

Thursday was student meeting day and this week we took two groups (nearly 100 students!) deep underground at Kents Cavern - always a favourite and this week we had the owner Nick (Cavog the Caveman) Powe as a guide, brilliant!

Some scary fun in the dark depths of the caves and a nice sit down when back on the surface... 

                   
As another weekend looms we will be saying farewell to some of our students - a group of German Apprentices, some Spanish teachers and our footballing superstar Alejandro. At the same time we will be welcoming French, German and Spanish students - I know they will have a great time here in Torbay!
                        So, have a great weekend and see you all on Monday

Ciao :0)

What a week - Sunshine and Birthdays!

It has been another amazing week for TTPL - in addition to all the usuall student activities around South Devon we welcomed for the second year running a group of 2nd year student nurses from Quimper in France. Hosted at The Toorak we set up a range of presentations and seminars from local healthcare providers and a vist to Brixham and Paignton Hospitals and to the Horizon Centre at Torbay Hospital. Fantastic...the group learned a great deal about how UK healthcare is provided and the weather showed Torbay off perfectly - we could not have wished for better.

This week the student meeting was at Pier Point - the perfect venue for an afternoon in the sun, we had a good turn out and it was clear that the students all had a good time socialising - some saying hello for the first time and others preparing to return home...a great way to spend the afternoon.

 

In addition to all this we have had a couple of Birthdays in the office - Jayne and Gemma are both celebrating this week so we all wish them a very Happy Birthday xxx

 

This week is a Bank Holiday and there is so much happening in Torbay - BMAD bike festival in Paignton, a Food Festival in Torquay and a Pirate Day in Brixham to name but a few...have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the sunshine

Ciao

10 years at TTPL!

Well, this week all I am going to say is well done Wendy... 10 years at The Training Partnership Ltd.
Then...

and Now...

 Clearly TTPL have the secret to eternal youth!

Wendy...

on behalf of Jayne, Nadine and the entire TTPL team,

Thank You for all you do for all of us

xxx

I could not have put it better myself!

Earlier this week we had the pleasure of taking two German group leaders, Jutta and Marcus to vist all 39 of their students - It was amazing, the placements were all perfect, the host families were all great and the students...well, here are three of them, in their own words....

As I said....could not have put it better myself! So glad to see what a great impact we can make on our visiting students!

Easter already!

Here we are again...well the calendar says its Spring but I'm not sure the weather agrees - brrrrr, it has been chilly! However, the sun is shining today and all is well here in 'Sunny South Devon'
As always we have been up to loads of stuff so a quick roundup is in order...
We recently sponsored the 'Business Enabler' award at the Herald Express Business Awards and I was delighted to be able to present it to Outset Torbay - worthy winners. Congratulations also to all the other winners and participants.

We also had a stand at the English Riviera and South Devon Tourism & Business Exhibition which was a great success for us ... two of our students Denise and Annika at our stand and one Johanna (I promise) dressed up as the Kents Cavern mascot 'Cavog' and pictured here with James Hull the Manager at the caves. Brilliant!
Looking forward, we are very pleased to welcome five German Teachers from Berlin who are huge fans of the author Rosamunde Pilcher will be here to enjoy the educational side of the authors work and to visit some of the locations used in the books. I am sure they will enjoy their visit to the South West of England.
In 'other news' we are also involved in the new networking group 'Business Biscotti' in Newton Abbot - an exciting opportunity to develop and work with some great businesses in the area.
Have a great Easter everyone...
See you in April

Ciao for now






Business Biscotti

The joy of Networking :0)

I am very lucky in that as part of my job I am able to meet and engage with a huge number of people at some of the many excellent Business Networking events in and around South Devon. Last week, however, was  an exception in that I was at an event almost every day (including both Exeter and Plymouth Chambers) - culminating on Friday with the latest 2nd Friday event at the beautiful Cockington Court. The event is part of a programme organised by the TDA (Torbay Development Agency) and hosted by Adrian Sheen. The programme includes 1st/2nd and 3rd Friday meetings and always have a guest speaker - this week was Alison Benney from 'enlighten HR' who spoke about the trials and tribulations of employment law. The interesting bit from our perspective is that Alison is one of our amazing Work Placement providers and currently has Rhea, one of our students, with her.

Rhea, a young apprentice from Germany will be with Alison for 3 weeks, joined in the network meeting and I was able to introduce her to many of the people attending - all commented on her excellent English skills. It really does make my job such a pleasure when I am able to see first hand the difference we are able to make.

Have a great week everyone :0)