Cooperation is the key...

We have just enjoyed another week where we have hosted a delegate group from Europe...this time they were teachers from a Vocational School in Kiel, Northern Germany; they wanted to see this area (their students already come here to complete their work placements) and find out about the education system here in the UK, this will inevitably lead to more students visiting our area. 

So here's the thing, we are very proud of the area we live in, we promote it at every opportunity and encourage students to come here instead of to London; but, without the help and cooperation from other organisations in South Devon, delegate visits like this

would be difficult, if not impossible!

This week our blog is to say 'Thank You' and give a big shout to the people and organisations who have given their time, showed off their facilities (and provided some very enjoyable refreshments) to enable us to show the world how good Torbay and South Devon really are. 

We have visited and toured South Devon College, along with the SW Energy Centre and the Passive Haus (Thank you Sarah Beeson and John Rolls). Seen and toured Exeter College (both Technology and Construction sites) - (thank you to Richard Layburn, Andy Wells and Nick Spreckley),  been very well fed at the Horizons Restaurant at SDC, and at the Cafe at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and with buffets from Shoreline and Crusty Loaf in Torquay. We have been given a tour of the amazing Torquay Academy, (thank you Steve Margetts and Nichole Sanders) not by staff but by four young students who will re write your opinions of teenagers - they were great; polite, articulate and very well informed about their school. Intertwined with all this they have been to Kents Cavern, Cockington Court, Living Coasts and a number of pubs and clubs around the bay. Several of our Work Placements made themselves available at short notice for visits and again spent time with the teachers.

In short...Thank You
If you have never been to any of these places, take the time to visit, the educational establishments are inspiring, the food is delicious and the venues are brilliant - but most of all they all prove one thing;
South Devon is a great place to be!

Election Fever and Global Opportunity

"Mauritius was made first, and then heaven was copied after Mauritius"

The UK has been deeply distracted with election fever for the last few months and today the calm is settling after a very exciting political storm.  The Conservative party remains in the driving seat and whilst consistency is a good thing we’ll watch with interest as they follow up on their promise of an EU referendum. 

Here at The Training Partnership though, we've been setting our sights further afield, developing some much needed Skype skills and meeting new people through the wonders of technology (better late than never).

Future collaborations are on the cards with Mauritius, Paraguay and Ecuador.

Mauritius is looking good!

Contracts have been signed with Alumno Astralis, a brilliant organisation based in the Indian Ocean offering internships to young people from all over the world.  This is an ideal location for those looking to gain valuable experience abroad, the dominant languages are English and French and the capital Port Louis is particularly well known for its financial centre.

Global Trainee is a new start up company based in Asuncion who are passionate about travel and education and are dedicated to broadening horizons for their young people.  Their focus is on tourism industry helping students who need to undertake a work placement to complete their studies.  Their Summer season is our Winter so complements brilliantly our seasonal tourism industry.

In total contrast we have been in discussions with the Ecuador subsidiary of Academical Travels, a massive player in the youth travel industry.  They are based in Cologne, Germany but have a presence in other countries specialising in internships, volunteering and adventure programmes.
These are exciting times for our country and for us, long may we embrace the challenges and continue to make new friends from across the globe. In the words of Alan Watts "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

What a week!

This week we have had two delegate visits and a teacher here to see how her students are getting on!

We were really pleased to welcome back yet again a group of student nurses from Quimper in France. They enjoyed an active program of talks and demonstrations - including the now traditional 'event' at the Horizon Centre at Torbay Hospital.

We also had a group of teachers here from Croatia who will send us their students next year. We arranged for them to see both Exeter and South Devon College, the exciting South West Energy Centre, the amazing Embercombe and ended with an enlightening tour of Torquay Academy. All this was mixed in with visits to Kents Cavern and Torre Abbey, and a couple of classroom sessions covering Cross Cultural Communication and Business English!

In the midst of all this we welcomed back Imke, she has sent us yet another group of German students and we took her out and about to visit them.

We also sad a sad farewell to Ashleigh, our Work Experience student from South Devon College - she has been a real star!

Finally...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Gemma... 30 years young on Monday! Have a great day Gem xxx

Fun and Football for our students

We recently began an exciting working relationship with Torquay United - 'The Gulls', our local, and much loved football team. What a great start it has been with Pierre really enjoying his placement (more from him in a future blog!), so much so that they gave us some tickets for the up coming game against Lincoln (Tuesday 14th April, evening KO at 19:45). We asked our students to produce a funny picture at last weeks Student Meeting at Red Rocks...

Our favorite two are included here - brilliant! Anyone would think that the English are known for queuing - and what is more English than a Beach Hut! There is also a great picture form Paignton Zoo (at this weeks student meeting) where the lucky photographers received their tickets.

Thanks again to Andy at TUFC!

While I have your attention: Don't miss YELLOWFEST - an fantastic music event on the 9th May at Plainmoor!

See you there!

Exeter...an expanding market for us.

As we expand into Exeter we are attracting more and more companies seeking the benefits of hosting a European student or graduate. It is always exciting when we have an article in the press and this is no exception. Huge thanks to all the team at Astley Media for arranging a photo shoot and press release for us with the Express and Echo & The Exeter Daily... please share with anyone you know and help us to get the message out to all Exeter business that we are here and able to help. Here is the article, as it is on The Exeter Daily (with a couple of extra pictures and a few links!)

Call for Exeter firms to go International

A business that connects trainees from around the world with companies in Devon is expanding its work in Exeter.

The Training Partnership puts together companies with high-calibre trainees looking to improve their business skills, providing short term work placements that benefit both.  Placements are supernumerary and funded through EU schemes such as Erasmus+ and PONS.

Several Exeter-based organisations are already signed up, including the blur Group, Exeter City Council and MOTO.

Now the Training Partnership, based at the Torbay Innovation Centre, is encouraging other Exeter firms to work with trainees - many of them graduates with good language and business skills.

Ian Smith, The Training Partnership Work Placement Manager, said: “It’s a win-win for Exeter companies. If you need additional support for a particular project, or want to do market research, explore social media options or need foreign language skills, then we can help. We work with around 1,000 trainees every year on temporary placements that range from two weeks to six months.

“It’s a fantastic experience for people and companies to benefit from having extra support and a new member of the team from a different culture, working with them. We find that the more the company has a clear plan or defined project for trainees, the more they gain as a business. It’s also fun – there’s often a social aspect that employees embrace. We’ve had trainees organise wonderful Spanish lunches for colleagues and some great friendships are made.”

Nitin Moorjani, HR and Talent Executive at blur, commented: “We are committed to providing opportunities for young people across the different areas of the business.  The calibre of trainees which TTPL have provided us with have always been outstanding, they all are committed to performing at their best and adding value, which is also thanks to the ongoing support and training given by our team at blur.” 

Maureen Gori de Murden, Senior Economy & Tourism Officer, Exeter City Council said: “From day one, all our work placements are treated as a real employee. All of the trainees that TTPL have provided us with come highly motivated and are a valuable contribution to the team at Exeter City Council. We choose projects carefully to ensure that they have the right skill set to perform the task in hand.   During their time with us, they are able to develop commercial awareness and we see their confidence grow day by day."

The Training Partnership also offers overseas placements to UK trainees and graduates that include Teaching in Italy, Hospitality in France and Agriculture in USA.

The Training Partnership team will be attending a range of events in Exeter in the coming weeks to talk to companies about work placements.

To find out more contact The Training Partnership on 01803 321210 or email info@ttpl-uk.com

An excellent placement at SIBELCO - Marc is really lucky!

Sometimes at TTPL we get a request for a placement that makes us scratch our heads for a while....Spanish graduate Marc is such a student.

He (Marc) applied for a placement and requested a sector to cover 'Stratiographic or Geophysical Technologies' (I know, I didn't know either) which actually means that he specialises in mining and mineral extraction. Not a sector we have been asked for in the past! Well we do like a challenge.

After a bit of searching, calling friends and prodigious use of Linkedin we found some people who knew some people who put us in contact with the amazing team at SIBELCO in Newton Abbot. They extract and produce China Clay from a huge, and very well hidden, site in Kingsteignton, nr Newton Abbot.

Marc has a perfect project and Debra and I had the real pleasure of a tour around the mine and extraction plant last week - amazing! We were dressed in the usual PPE (modelled here by Debra with Marc in his usual Orange uniform) and then enjoyed a Landrover tour with Marc's supervisor Clover who commented that "In February Marc started his work placement with us at Sibelco Uk working with the Operations Geologist. He is currently carrying out excellent work creating databases and helping to build one of our Geological models. This work is valuable and will be an important contribution to the evaluation that is to be carried out this year." 
It is always good to hear that our students are doing so well in their placements, particularly a placement as unique as this. The mine is a strange almost alien landscape that is both fascinating and daunting - they work on such a huge scale you feel very small...even in a big 4x4!

Thank you to all who made this possible, hope you like the pictures (on our Facebook page) and keep a look out for a blog from Marc about his experiences here in South Devon.

Clover, Debra and student Marc

Embercombe - a perfect Partnership

One of the things we pride ourselves on is the forming of solid partnerships with other organisations - so it is with Embercombe

If you have never been, it really is worth a visit.

Since our first visit back in 2012 it has become one of our favourite places and a regular venue for our visiting delegate groups - demonstrating what is available to an audience from all over Europe.

Embercombe provides, what they describe as, a transformative residential programme for young people aged 13 to 17. In reality what it does is stimulate the minds of young people to move towards a truly sustainable world.

It is also a great place for our Cross Cultural Communication courses - an inspiring and empowering learning environment that really does enhance the programmes we run there.

Their courses last between 5 and 10 days

The aim of the programme is to encourage and develop young people's skills and awareness to help support them in their transition into future entrepreneurship and employment. Embercombe residential programmes focus on inspiring and empowering young people, connecting them to a world where they feel able to make positive change.

From breakfast to evening we encourage individuals to speak together and to explore their conversational abilities through practical and social activities. Young people will be asked to be seen, to take risks, to make choices, to speak out, to take responsibility and to care.

The programme aims for participants to achieve the following;

• Speak English in small groups
• A more positive relationship with work
• A stronger sense of community and the role they play within it
• Improved self confidence
• Practical skills that are transferable into the workplace
• A deeper understanding of sustainability
• An improved understanding of individuals gifts and skills
• To have fun

The best thing to do is, of course, to arrange a visit - if we can help you, please just ask. 

For more information contact
Nadine Stroud - Business Development Director
Nadine@ttpl-uk.com
+44 (0)1803 321 210
www.embercombe.co.uk/education 
In collaboration with:
Skills for Life