Sad Face :0( Happy Face :0)

 

Why a sad face? well one of our long term trainees, Tanja has left us to return to Germany. During her time here at TTPL Towers she has helped produce a number of documents and flyers using her Graphic Design skills and has made a real impact here, not only for her skills but her great character and sense of humour - we will all miss her and wish her well for the future. Thank you for all you have done for us Tanja

Here is Tanja with the TTPL team.


Moving on to the happy face... we have the lovely Morgane in our office.. she has spent part of this morning taking control of our Chrismas decorations ensuring we are all feeling very jolly!
Here she is getting ready to attack the tree and then a nice pic of her with the results... Ho ho ho :0)

Her infectious cheer and enthusiasm and ready smile has caught the whole office ... So as it is nearly December can we be one of the first to wish you all

'Merry Christmas'

 

During the past week we have also begun to get out to visit as many of our Work Placements as we possibly can... we spent the day in Plymouth visiting our friends there and also found time to visit some more local placements with a visiting German teacher. Kathrin was here to see her group of trainees and we went out vist some of them. Thank you to her for travelling all the way to sunny Torbay and to all the companies that helped to make her vist so enjoyable.

 

To close this weeks blog it is only right that I take a few lines to praise the entire TTPL team...we have all been busy arranging a visit from some of our partner organisations from across Europe with all the logistic difficulties that this entails - there will, I am certain be more about our event in the next blog so I will save the details for then.

 

Thanks for reading, please follow us and share with your friends...stay warm and have a good week.

What can a European student bring to your workplace?

I am a very lucky person... (Not, as you might think, because of my youthful good looks or sparkling wit!!!!) But because of my job; my job can be frustrating, infuriating and sometimes almost impossible BUT it is always rewarding...the ability to help change someone’s life is amazing. As Work Placement Manager here at TTPL towers I am responsible for the work placements that our trainees carry out at the excellent companies around Torbay and South Devon that we work with; this means that every time one of our young people arrives in Torbay and begin their placement the team here have the opportunity to actually change that young person’s life - a big responsibility that we all embrace.
So how do we change lives?

During the last couple of weeks I have been able to attend a few events where young people have spoken about their experience, one was a young lady who became the youngest person to conquer Mount Everest and the other, another young lady, who used her graduate placement to carve a job for herself at a local travel company. Others have spoken about how their experiences motivated them to start their own business. Stories of how, in the midst of a global recession young people sieze the opportunities available and shape their lives. Inspirational stuff.

It got me thinking about past TTPL students and the companies they worked with...and how the 'life change' also happens for the placements.

I know of companies here in Torbay that have expanded into Europe, as a direct result of taking one of our students and having the courage to embrace an opportunity abroad. This means that we, TTPL, have helped a young person take their first career steps and also helped a business expand - what a result - but it doesn’t end there. Our students are often taking their first 'solo' steps away from home, away from family and friends, and away from all that is familiar. Consider that for a moment - you travel to a new country where you are unlikely to hear your mother tongue. Everything is written in the wrong language, traffic attacks you from the wrong side of the road, the food is different...in fact, everything is different. This is where the magic happens...when families wave goodbye to their young offspring they are often just that, young offspring - what they get back are young adults, people who have grown in themselves, become independent and appreciative of what 'work' and ‘life’ can mean. For the individual the 'germinating shoot' has begun to flower!

We have companies that, having offered placements,  have gone on to offer employment to students once their studies have been completed. Marketing projects that would never have been done. Translations that have made the difference between getting an export contract or not. I cannot leave out those companies that, quite simply, take great pleasure from having a student in their workplace to provide a fresh way of thinking that can revitalise their working environment.

Back to the question; what do student placement bring to the work place?

From an employer’s perspective the benefits are many and various; Motivated young people with a burning desire to learn; Enthusiasm; New skills; Language; Opportunity and good old fashioned Altruism. Never underestimate the motivation that people gain from helping someone.

For the student...Knowledge; Skills; a fantastic CV; Independence; the freedom to 'grow up' and so much more. Travel, contacts, stretching their minds and their confidence…taking the first step to being all that they can be.

Being part of that is a real privilege, one that should be embraced by everyone.

 

A wise man, (Frank Sobey actually), once told me that the students he has hosted bring 'Vibrancy' to the workplace, and that is a fantastic way to describe it. I have tried on many occasions to describe what happens when a student arrives at a new placement. tried to explain the difference it can make, the subtle change in the way your team interacts. The way that their young eyes view what you do every day and see the 'wow' in it all. It is very hard to explain but I think Frank did it.

The problem I have is that I could rattle on for hours about student placement - it has been part of my life for so long, part of what I do. I clearly need to condense my rambling to a single word of benefit to cover what a European student can bring to a workplace. So, what is the benefit of graduate/student placement...in a single word

VIBRANCY

A word we should all learn, appreciate and most certainly celebrate.

 

 

Romanian University Event

Well I am going to hijack this weeks blog for my recent vist to Bucharest...what a great city.

The event, British Universities Fair, was organised by The British Embassy Bucharest and UKTI and attracted Universities from all over the UK - sadly not from the South West which was a little disapointing. However, the event attracted a great many Romanian students all looking to study at British Universities and was, in my opinion, a great success. An excellent job from Adriana and Iliana organising this their first University event. Thank you ladies. In addition to the students, I met with a number of agents who offer help in applying for University places and are very interested in offering our Work Experience programmes to Romanian students... as we have found that our usual Romanian students from the RAU are among the best we recieve we are really looking forward to potentially more of these high calibre candidates.

Not wanting to travel all the way to Romania and see only the inside of an hotel I decided to travel a day early and visit the Romanian American University who we have worked with for many years. In fact, four years ago I first met Mihai Sebea from RAU and promised then I would visit...so it has taken me four and a half years to make a three hour flight to get this picture!

I was lucky enough to be given a full tour of the campus and discussed some exciting future plans with Mihai and the University Rector, Professor Ovidiu Folcut, PhD. We can look forward to more students and possible training programmes using our Cultural Awareness course delivered in both the UK and Romania. In addition to all this Mihai, along with Flavius Streianu the Erasmus Co-ordinator and Aiste, took me to lunch in a restaurant called 18 (its on the 18th floor) and offers an amazing view of Bucharest. I was also treated to an evening out with them at the incredible Caru' ca bere - what an experience!

I was also able to meet with Manuela Epure (and her husband Marius), a long time friend of Jayne (our MD) and Prorector at Spiru Haret University, I was again treated to a fantastic meal out and perfect hospitality...and once again we are looking forward to hosting students from Manuela's University, The University Spiru Haret in Bucharest.

All in all, we were the only non university attending the event and as such attracted a great deal of attention, it is amazing the high esteem that the British education system is held in, particularly in Romania. It can only be good for Torbay to promote our area like this - once again our video (thanks MGVP) was of great interest with people hardly able to believe that the area is in England! While I am offering thanks Quentin at Q-Ball Media and Jim at South West Colour Labs managed to design, print and deliver a new banner (only 600mm wide so it fits in a suitcase) in 3 days - can't ask more than that!

On a personal note, it was refreshing to find such a high level of customer service...it really is amazing how nothing is too much trouble - even at the airport the level of service was far beyond the standard we have come to expect here in the UK and you really feel valued in every establishment you visit. It's also quite nice to be able to have a smoke and a drink in smoking areas found in every establishment but its probably not politically correct to say that.

Cercul Militar, was built in 1911 and is the cultural headquarters of the Romanian Army. Cercul Militar is situated in the Center of Bucharest, in the university zone, on Calea Victoriei.

The amazing view looking down from '18' - a great restaurant giving panoramic views across Bucharest and a view over the central park area of the city

So, a really good event, an opportunity to visit partner organisations and my first, and I hope not last, visit to Bucharest. I was proud to be there to represent The Training Partnership Ltd, Torbay (and the South West), our Work Placements and of course our host families. I hope I have achieved some extra groups who will visit, work in and enjoy our area and in doing so help to aid the business growth in Torbay.

 

This is a Wheely good blog!

Lots happening in Torquay so I will start with our delayed trip to the utterly amazing Olympic wheel on Torquay Harbourside...70 students and a couple of the TTPL Team had a great ride on the wheel yesterday. The weather was not completely kind but the views were still brilliant. Here are just a few of the pictures that were taken...

What a view, even in the mist Torbay Marina is a wonderful sight from the top of the wheel.

Three of our Italian students with their Teacher

All aboard...you can just see Tanja, our TTPL student on the right, clearly still enjoying herself in spite of having to endure working in our office :0)

More good news, (more details will follow) one of our German partners has had the project they set up with TTPL recognised by their National Agency as demonstrating 'Best Practice' and one of our French partners has won first prize for their Leonardo project which led her to spend a day at the European Parliament. We have also had two of our graduate students on the Spanish Teachers programme offered the opportunity to teach at one of our excellent private school work placements. Very well done to them..it just goes to show the benefits of graduate work placements for assisting in CV building and job search.

 

The next blog will be interesting as I will be off to Bucharest to attend the British Council HE event. It will be a great event and I am really looking forward to visiting this lovely city for the first time.

 

So, until then... La revedere și să aibă un week-end minunat.

 

Thats Good bye and have a great weekend in Romanian :0)

How things have changed at TTPL

Once upon a time, many moons ago, when I first joined The Training Partnership, this time of year was the time we did all our 'catch up' stuff. You know what I mean, sort files, tidy desks...file everything and generally prepare for the coming year. Well that was then and this is now as they say... and we now continue to welcome students 52 weeks a year, well almost as not many actually arrive during the Christmas break but we still have students here all year. It certainly provides us with an exciting and constantly changing working environment, and give so many more students the opportunity to enjoy the best bit of this wonderful county. 

Currently there are over 100 TTPL students living and enjoying their placements in and around Torbay & South Devon and another 5 arriving next week! Over 77 of our students met Gemma and Andrea at Torquay Pavilions hoping to take a trip on the stunning  Wheel currently on the seafront...however, with English weather being what it is they had to delay the trip and simply enjoy a warming coffee in the Pavilions Cafe...I can just imagine the counter staff recieving an order for 77 coffees! But great to see so many of our students enjoying a good social get together.

 

 

Other than that, a good week for us all, new students placed and accommodation arranged, just waiting for them to arrive now! I have to mention a visit to a potential Work Placement earlier this week. Jonty and Carole Williams run The Husbandry School, (left) what a fantastic place. The Husbandry School is not, as I thought, where my wife thinks I should go for some lessons; it is in fact a school for experiencing and learning an ancient method of land and animal management. A process that actually gave us the word 'Husband'. The work they have done is amazing and I urge you all to have a look at their web site and try and arrange a visit.

On a more relaxing note (well for me anyway)...I am off next week and looking forward to spending a few days at the marvelous Porthminster St Ives Harbour Hotel in Cornwall - cant wait!!!

 So...have a great weekend everyone...be good while I'm away!

October update...

Here we are again, really don't know where the weeks go. Still busy and, as always, looking for businesses and families to become part of the Training Partnership family, supporting and working with some of the most amazing students you could ever wish to meet.

Lots been happening and in no particular order here we go with the first October blog:
 

Debbie, our Programme Manager has been off sunning herself in Cape Verde (alright for some!) and arrived back at TTPL Towers on Thursday...just to make us all jealous she even supplied a photo! it looks glorious.

When asked for a quote for her picture she said...
" Enjoying a busy day in Cape Verde Islands!  Good to be back with all the TTPL team again "
We believe you Debs! Good to have you back :0)

Last week Wendy and I spent the day at Exeter Racecourse, this was at the brilliant Business Gives Back Expo, organised by the equally brilliant Dave Barr from The Best Of Exeter - what a fabulous day! Lunch with Exeter Chamber of Commerce and a whole day of networking. Met with some great businesses and now planning some follow up meetings to hopefully engage with some of them - all who attended had a really good day. I even had a split second of fame on BBC Spotlight - in the background obviously ;0)

Meanwhile, Jayne and Mia have had a very productive trip to San Diego, representing TTPL and Torbay they attended the WYSTC 2012 conference... a global event for the student travel and internship industry. A long trip with long flights but a worthwhile and exciting event.

While we are on the subject of travel...I will be off to Bucharest at the end of October for the British Coucil Higher Education event - looking forward to a really interesting time there.

Thursdays student meeting was at AMF Bowl in Torquay, over 60 students attended and all had a great time. It really is a great way for all our students to meet and chat socially, it's also a valuable and integral part of their experience here in South Devon. Next week there is a trip to the amazing Torquay Wheel...direct from the Olympic Park. We hope that all students who go enjoy the trip. Pictures will, I am sure, follow.

So, not a great deal else to report for now... please do share this blog with others and follow our progress.

 

See you all soon :0)

Autumn is here!

Well the temperature has certainly dropped and autumn is definately here...chilly!
This has been another week that has flown by... We started by taking over 30 students to start their Work Experiences in and around Torbay - they have all settled in and are having a great time with their respective placements.
Tuesday brought another network meeting at The Grand Hotel, very well attended and great to see some new faces. On Wednesday I managed to spend the day in Exeter visiting a couple of new placements and enjoyed a very interesting talk, with a good lunch obviously, at the Exeter Chamber meeting at The Rougemont Hotel...great people there and some excellent new contacts. I visited Broadclyst Primary Scool to meet the team there and to see how their student Rafa was doing - very happy to report that all is well there and what a fab school - really great atmosphere there. Also went to CALM (Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing)..wow, what a great place, such great technology and really looking forward to finding a suitably qualified student tyo enjoy a placement there.
On Thursday, yet another breakfast!!! this time with the South Devon Business Club SDBC, held at Follaton House in Totnes it was great to meet so many new people and catch up with some familier ones! Breakfast was 'continental' style and provided by Simon Dolly - made a really nice change (good coffee too)...the meeting did bring some really good contacts and opportunities so will have to have a good look at some incoming students to match to the placements.
Next week we have a group of Lecturers from the Romanian American University - always an interesting group. We are off to South Devon College University Campus to see Jon Hall and also to Exeter for a tour of the Exeter University among others, along with some social/cultural visits around the area.

The student meeting this week is a Friday night party at The Half Moon with a Karaoke provided by Phoenix Roadshow...I'm sure there will be pictures for Facebook for next week!

I have to dash off to introduce a student to her Work Placement at Roselands School, I know she, and they will have a great time..
No pics this week as I didn't take any!
So..gotta go, have a great weekend.
Ciao for now.