We are still in England?

Some of us (admitedly not many) were teenagers in 1976...so this current heatwave is something of a surprise to the younger members of our team - we could only imagine what our students thought the weather would be like - certainly not the glorious sunshine we have been enjoying...

"It is such a great trip with this sunny weather! When I got here, everybody told me that it will rain a lot because it’s England but by now we haven’t had one rainy day!"

"Can't believe it's England! Almost 30 degrees, cloudless, a lightbulb sun turned on all day long. Why nobody told me that on April? I would have avoided to bring only winter clothes! ;)"

"When you think about England one of the first things pop in your mind is RAIN!"

"Sun has invaded this country 2 months ago and seems to won't go away! Not a big deal afterall! Beach and sunbaths everyday! Who would could even imagine!?"

"My weather app on my smartphone should be broken! It shows only SUN in Torquay from a month and doesn't want to change! What a pity!"

"Surprisingly my visit to England has been very hot, not like the ‘Typical British summer’ I have heard of. It has made my time very enjoyable, although I did pack for rain so it has cost me a lot in new clothes. But hey, I guess every cloud has a silver lining."

 

 Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather...stay safe and dont forget to wear Sun Screen!

Italian Summer Camp experience!

We have recently been involved in an exciting project to send English speaking volunteers to work in Italy, Nadine Stroud, our Business Development Director commented “we are very happy to be involved in this rewarding project.  Our participants have been great ambassadors for the UK, have had a great time whilst receiving valuable experience and life skills.  We will be offering further exciting and career building opportunities with our outbound programmes.”

One of the volunteers, Timothy Nicolle sent us the following - what an amazing experience!

The WEP (World Education Programme) is a company providing children with experiences, either at home or abroad. In this case, the company was offering 17 lucky Italian children, between the ages of 8 and 13, the chance to learn English for a week in the Italian Piedmont mountains, an environment of outstanding beauty.

The structure of the week, was combining three hours of English lessons in the morning, with an interesting and exciting selection of activities in the evenings- ranging from climbs and walks with Italian mountain guides to learning the fundamentals of circus skills, such as juggling or riding a unicycle. In the evenings, the children played outdoor games and watched films in English, as well as having some free time in their busy schedules. The food was both exceptional quality and quantity, with the children being treated to a variety of pasta, pizza, local meat and vegetable dishes, all made from scratch by highly talented chefs- this made being in the mountains far from a slimming experience!

From the perspective of one of the two English tutors involved, the process of teaching was very pleasurable. The children were both receptive and well behaved and seemed to enjoy a different format of learning English through games and spoken activities, compared to the usual language lessons many of us can remember from school! Covering a wide variety of topics they quickly began using English to one another and also coming to the English speaking staff and trying to communicate directly and with increasing skill.

Being in the mountains meant teaching certain topics was very easy. Themes such as nature or holidays and travel were able to be taught by simply going outside and showing them the area they were living in. Similarly, being in such a beautiful environment with mountain vistas outside the window, made teaching a pleasure. Also, being on a mountain and not in the wind, rain or cold, made for an unusual experience!

For me, personally, the week was most enjoyable. Whilst giving me the opportunity to teach children with little or no English and see a remarkable progress within one week and the pleasure this gave them; being in such a beautiful area made the experience all the more engaging and showed me the advantages and possibilities of combining work and travel into one trip.

Timothy Nicolle

Our Busiest and Hotest week of the year!

The sun has been shining here in Torbay...what a week it has been!

Mediterranean weather helping to make our students feel even more at home.

We have also been in the midst of our busiest week of the year so far - we welcomed 70 German students (59 from  Sanofi & 11 Business Management trainees from Provadis); had a huge Welcome Meeting at the RICC and then took them to begin their Work Placements on Tuesday, along with over 30 other students from around Europe. We were also pleased to be hosting two teachers Silke and Diane who were accompanying the Provadis / Sanofi group - we worked out that Silke has been coming here for 15 years with various groups visiting TTPL -amazing. We even managed to fit in a spot of lunch in the sun at Shoreline Paignton.

The weather was very kind to us and all of our students got out to their placements without a hitch!

Fantastic!

 

We also enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at Cockington Court with an ice-cream or a drink provided by the excellent Cafe and Tea Rooms there - thank you to Lianne and Simon, it was great and all the students enjoyed the ice creams! We also had a lot of fun with footballs, tennis rackets and frisbees! Lovely to see so many of our students enjoying a sunny afternoon. It was also an opportunity for Sandra and Martins, our latest office students (and all the arrivals from last weekend!) to enjoy their first student meeting. Thank you for all the help you have given so far - we really appreciate the skills you bring to our workplace!

As a closing picture or two, here is Martins on his first visit to the UK - posing in the sun!

and of course the obligatory ice cream picture.....

 

Have a great weekend and don't forget the sun screen!!!

A day in the life...Debbie Campell

My name is Debbie and I am the Programme Manager here at The Training Partnership – I work with our European Partners ensuring all our students have a fantastic experience here in Devon. 
No day is the same at The Training Partnership!  Today we have our weekly student meeting at Living Coasts, sea life centre, where not only do the students get to meet the Penguins but they have a great opportunity to make new friends.
We also have departure meetings for a number of our students leaving this weekend to return home to Germany, Spain and Italy.  Students are presented with Certificates and lots of photos are taken! Preparations are also under way for our next groups arriving in August.  I am arranging a programme of language training, cultural, technical  and social activities for a group from Italy, as well as ensuring work placements and host accommodation are in place for our next students arriving from Romania, Germany, France, Spain as well as Italy.


Our German group having just recieved their certificates

I can’t believe we are also preparing for groups arriving in September – it will be Christmas before we know it!

A big TTPL Welcome

This week we are very pleased to welcome Carly - she is joining us as a summer intern before returning to University in the next academic year.
Say hello Carly....

"I am currently a student at Southampton Solent University, studying Events Management. Being originally from Torquay, The Training Partnership was a brilliant opportunity for me to gain some valuable work experience within Torbay. As The Training Partnership deals with students from all over Europe, it has allowed me to acquire a better knowledge of various cultures. My first week at The Training Partnership has presented to me how much time and effort each member of staff puts in to making every European trainee feel as comfortable and safe as possible. After my first week, I am delighted to be part of the team."

 Welcome Carly...we all hope you enjoy your time with us.

 

The Longest Day - the shortest week!

Do you ever have a week when you look back and there it was gone? That is how this week has felt for us...busy, busy, busy! Here is a quick roundup of some of our highlights!
Torbay has made national news! Did anyone else see the great picture from Paignton Zoo with the Tiger 'investigating' at a wedding? Brilliant...well worth a look here - Paignton Zoo wedding. It made us smile :0)

We are busy preparing for the Plymouth Business Show next week, organised by Plymouth Chamber of Commerce it should be a great event,. We are certainly looking forward to it - a fantastic opportunity to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones. There will, I am sure, be plenty to report next week.

We had a lovely call from one of our placements this week - The telephone conversation went something like this: - ‘Hi, I just wanted to give you a call to ask you what kind of a student have you given me?’  I thought, ‘Oh Dear, what's happened’ Then he said ‘He’s brilliant, I couldn't have asked for anyone better!’  Michele is helping to prepare, cook and decorate the cakes at Duchy Foods and has been doing such an excellent job, using his initiative and imagination and has brought a fresh approach, so Colin has been thrilled with his work and wanted to tell us so! 

We have asked Colin for a picture of some of the marvelous cakes that he has made and will share that with you as soon as we get it! 

You may also have seen on our Facebook page a lovely story from one of our host families - in case you missed it, here it is:

I set the boys a challenge this week... To complete our Rubik's cube before going home. They have spent hours, and I mean hours, working on trying to do it!!! Tonight there has been success, they were so proud of themselves when they came and showed me a minute ago! Thought I'd share the moment with you!

It is always such a treat to hear stories like this and the boys certainly do look pleased with themselves.

This week we had a 'double' student meeting - taking in the fantastic Jungle Journey adventure golf and the equally enjoyable One World Cafe...a great time was had by all in spite of the slightly damp weather. Thanks to Ian/Adam at Jungle Journey and to Lynn at the One World Cafe, lovely places to visit and we were all made very welcome.. 

 So as the Longest Day of 2013 draws to a close...have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine :0)

Work Placements, Host Families and a trip to Paignton Zoo

As another week draws to a close there is time to reflect on the high points...work placements always give us a buzz and this week we have found new and exciting placements for our trainees to enjoy.
We are all really pleased to be working with the ERTC (English Riviera Tourism Company) and look forward to finding the right student for them. This morning brought us The Music Mill and I am sure the Spanish student they have agreed to host will have a fantastic time with them.

Our host families are also in for a treat as we are pleased to be working with Homestay, more details will follow but this is going to be a really exciting time for all of our hosts with some great opportunities available - watch this space!

Our weekly roundup would not be complete without the student meeting and here are just a couple of pictures of students enjoying Paignton Zoo, a really great place to visit for visitors of all ages :0)
We had a great time - thank you.