Farmstay in France! a great opportunity...

Here at The Training Partnership we are really excited about our collaboration with WEP. We are now able to offer an amazing Farm-Stay or Ranch-Stay Programme in 2016 via WEP France who are based in Lyon and have been sending us their students for many years . This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to spend time working in a real life environment in the beautiful French countryside. As is true in so many cases, there is no substitute for real life experience and here you can see and hear two young students describe their trips.

We have also sent them our first participant and Edith is having a fabulous time living her dream on a family owned French farm. She said "I am truly loving my farm stay with the Messiers" - we are really looking forward to Edith writing more about her time in France.
Interested? Find out more here on the TTPL Website and download the Global Brochure 

We hope to hear from you very soon!

Back Again

A couple of years ago we (TTPL) hosted a German student in our office, now Tanja is back with us. This is her story....

The first time I worked for TTPL, I only worked as an intern for 7 weeks and thought that it would be an ordinary internship as any other, in which I would have to do small tasks with barely any responsibilities. However they took me straight from the beginning by surprise, by recognizing my potential and abilities and by using my strengths for the company’s benefits, with no hesitation. I got tasks which allowed me to work first hand with the Corporate Design of the company. I was allowed to design visual elements which reflect the appearance of the company, such as the creation of the entire internal and external documents (certificates, questionnaires, business letters, Flyers, ect.). All of my ideas were taken on board and put into action. I have to emphasize that all this was part of the Cooperative Identity, which has a very important meaning for the management's strategies. I took this as an honour, being only an intern who was given a huge amount of responsibility.

Unfortunately all good has to come to an end, which meant for me that I had to go back home. After arriving back to my old life I noticed how much the cooperation with TTPL has helped me to develop myself, not only professionally but also personally. And all that in such a short period of time.

Nevertheless the team from TTPL did not forget me and kept in touch with me, letting me still designed some of their flyers from home.

Shortly after my internship I found work in Germany and stayed there for two and a half years. However during this time I started to miss my TTPL colleagues, the amazing atmosphere, the exiting tasks and even more the beautiful scenery of Torbay. So I decided to ask TTPL if they have a job for me and they answered straight away with an offer.

After that I quit my job in Germany, packed my bags and without any hesitations moved straight back to the best team in the world. However this time it was different than in my previous visit. This time I knew where I was going and how I would be welcomed, and yet everything was far above my expectations.

At this point I want to thank my TTPL colleagues for the incredible opportunity to be able to work here again. I want to show special appreciation for the feeling everyone has given me, that I am an important part of this team no matter which position I am or was in.

It is an honour and privilege for me to work for such a great company and especial to live in this beautiful city. I hope that with my hard work I will be able to give them as much back as they have given me. 

Tanja

What an amazing Summer!

As we move gently from Summer to Autumn it is good to reflect on the amazing time we have had in the past three months. Three of the busiest months we have ever experienced - this means that more students have enjoyed their Work Placements with TTPL here in South Devon than in any previous year.

There have been so many memorable students and groups, so many teachers experiencing our area for the first time and a great many teachers returning to us as friends to visit their students. It is not possible to mention them all, or even to mention the hardworking hosts and work-placements that help make their stay here so memorable....instead, here is a small selection of images taken at placements, activities and student meetings - are you in any of them?

Thank you to all the students who made it a fantastic Summer and a massive TTPL welcome to all those who will make it an Autumn to remember...We are already looking forward to Halloween and Bonfire Night - so send us your pictures and you could be included in our Blog and Facebook page in the coming weeks.
One more thing....We are recruiting - could you be joining our team?
More details are here: Student Support Officer

See you in October!

If a picture paints a thousand words...

It is often said that a picture paints a thousand words; this old adage is so very true...which is why we have been investing a great deal of time into building a stock of special pictures to demonstrate to our future students what an amazing experience they could have here in South Devon.

Many of our placements and students will already have been 'snapped' at work and at the student meetings (the great 'Rhino' shoot with free ice cream!). We all really appreciate the help that has been given, from our placements and students, especially considering the chaos we have caused - although we have only moved a couple of pieces of furniture!!!

Our PR and Marketing partners...a great bunch of people called Astley Media suggested that we utilse the services of a professional photographer and recommended Mike Alsford. Mike did our Exeter PR pictures and has the patience of a saint!

We are now into a programme of visits to placements, hosts and events - we have students from all over Europe, in almost every work sector, in Torbay and in Exeter, at home and having fun, with boys and girls, working and laughing - guys, we could not do it without you!

Make sure you watch this space for the pictures as they start to be used - they will be on our TTPL web site, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Pinterest. Meanwhile, we have some pictures of the pictures!

July! Halfway through the year already...

As the great Jon Bon Jovi once sang in the hit Living on a Prayer...

Woo-hoo we're halfway there! 

July already - 6 months gone and the year just gets better and better. South Devon has been basking in beautiful sunny weather and we have more students here in a single month than ever before! With the increased numbers we also have more teacher visits which gives us a great opportunity to show South Devon off to visitors from all over Europe. This week alone has seen visits from France, Germany and Spain. Meeting up with some teachers we have known for years and some that are new friends from near and far. The recent weather...very European, or perhaps more Mediterranean, has meant that recent Student meetings have been spent in the sun. This week we were at the fantastic Quaywest water park in Paignton - a really great time was had by all.

This weekend will see the arrival of another 80 students, all looking forward to an exciting experience here in Torbay - we welcome them all and know that their host families and companies are looking forward to meeting them.

There is another event this week that we do need to mention. Wendy has a Birthday (I would never mention a ladies age but (and here is a link back to the begining) when Bon Jovi first sang "Woo hoo, We're Half Way There", Wendy was just sweet 16! 

Happy Birthday Wendy, have a great day - with love from all the team at TTPL xxx

The TTPL Linkedin Alumni group - are you part of it?

We have set up an exciting resource for all of our ex students - we have an Alumni page, on Linkedin and full of useful and interesting articles for students past and present. Do you have fond memories of your placement with TTPL? We want you to be the first to join the TTPL Alumni Group on LinkedIn to reconnect with your peers, share advice and hear about further opportunities with the Training Partnership. Free benefits include: Latest placement and volunteering opportunities in the UK and across the globe Top tips on brilliant interviews, writing great CVs and securing jobs Communicate and build your career network with former TTPL trainees across the world News on the Training Partnership, EU opportunities, grants and projects

Join the TTPL Alumni Group

Inclusion...Five German education specialists visit South Devon

We recently hosted a group of 5 teachers and education professionals from German partner FAIRbund e.v. All are involved in helping young people with Special Educational Needs and the methods of inclusion in UK education.
We set up a programme that gave a really broad view of what we can offer here in South Devon. We visited Torre Primary School, both of the Dame Hannahs sites (Ivybridge and Seale Hayne) and spent an afternoon at Embercombe. We visited Brixham College and South Devon College, and had lecture sessions with Bill Callaghan and Julie Bose - a full programme that fitted well with all of our visitors.
Here is what they thought...
"A six-day trip to Torquay, the so-called 'english riviera' to learn about inclusion in the UK? We didn't quite know what to expect of that.
So we arrived at the seaside, just being happy about the lovely weather, the beautiful landscape and our great host-families.
But what we were about to experience the following week was far more than this: thanks to all the inspiring, different people we had the chance to meet, our heads got filled with ideas and visions about inclusion, as same as our days were filled with laughter, heated discussions - and new creations of german-english nonsense-expressions (such as 'soft office'...) :) We discovered that true inclusion probably takes much more financial support, well-trained, specialized members of staff and networking between the professions that are involved in this process, as supposed.
We learned about places in the UK where people seem to already 'live inclusion' in their daily lifes (for example at South Devon College or Seal Hayne), and places that seemingly start inclusion by focussing on childhood experiences that consist of 'going back to nature, back to the roots' (such as Embercombe).
Some of the projects and ideas we saw were basically quite similar to ones in Germany (for example Dame Hannahs), while other aspects of the british (education-) system seemed to be rather different to what we know - for instance the focus on universal services as a prevention of families being at risk of needing extended social support, as same as network, public relations and fundraising to provide institutions and organisations with the necessary equipment to realize inclusion.
After this week we were leaving Torquay with our heads filled with impressions and with a big smile upon our faces - as we found out that there are some british people who definitely know how to laugh..."


Kate, Anne, Martina, Daniela, Charlotte