Merry Christmas

This is the last blog of 2014...

What a year it has been, one of the best summers we have seen here in a long time - some amazing Student Meetings around Torbay, new hosts and workplacements' plus loads more. So here is a quick catch up of the previous 12 months...

We have gained 4 members of our team...Debra, Lisa, Kerry and Laura - WELCOME once again!

We said good bye to Debbie, Sam and Lorenzo - Stay safe and have fun guys.

Our new website is nearly ready and should be live very early in the new year (fingers crossed!)

Our last Student Meeting of the year was held at Applebys in Torquay - a fantastic afternoon and loads of dressing up fun...pictures are here on our Facebook Page - and a Merry Christmas from our students!

We did really well with our student numbers, and finished the year with 947 participants and we already have 400 plus booked for next year...we even have some bookings for 2016!!!!!

Most of all; we have all enjoyed every single day of 2014 and it would seem so have our students! An amazing 97% of them would recommend TTPL, with an average score of 8.9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction - stunning! All due to the exceptional work and effort from our Host Families, our Work Placements and the entire Training Partnership team.

So... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at TTPL

Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Bon Nadal, Frohe Weihnachten, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, Buon Natale, Crăciun Fericit, Gleðileg jól 

Merry Christmas!

SEE YOU IN 2015!

Hello from Laura - Welcome

You may recall that we recently began recruiting for a new Admin Assistant for our office, I'm pleased to say that out of all the applicants we had, we found our new member of the TTPL Team...

Season’s Greetings!

Christmas has come early for the Training Partnership with a new addition to the team! My name is Laura and I am fresh out of university where I studied Criminology and Social Policy. In additional to my studies, I was also provided with the opportunity to work with international students. This went on to spark my interest in pursuing a form of employment that involved working with such a diverse collection of individuals whilst also combining my office skills.

As for my interests, I enjoy nothing more than hanging out with my friends, travelling and animals. My most memorable travel destination has to be Australia, where I got to cuddle cute koalas and swim with scary sharks. But nothing was scarier than nearly missing the ferry from Magnetic Island back to Cairns, where myself and two others had to jump down onto a moving ferry with all our bags in order to avoid missing it!

Anyway less about me and more about my first week at the Training Partnership. I have been learning the ropes of the office whilst getting to know my fellow colleagues. Some of the tasks I have been learning include organising and preparing student welcome packs to the all-important task of learning staff tea and coffee preferences. However what is most exciting is some of the upcoming activities I will be participating in such as meeting new faces at the Student Welcome Meetings and getting to know our students better via the weekly activity meetings. 

But most of all I look forward to my future with the Training Partnership and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Welcome to the team Laura, from all at TTPL 

Launch of the Ice Age Europe Terminals at Kents Cavern

Earlier this week Jayne and Ian went to Kents Cavern to take part in the launch of the Ice Age Europe project. Jayne was invited to perform the official opening buy cutting the ribbon with a flint hand axe...a first surely!

At the same time, via the live-chat feature, there was an interaction with the terminal at the Neanderthal Museum in Dusseldorf by Dr. Angelica Schwall-Düren, Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media of North Rhine.

The project is a new trans-European interactive Ice Age educational game, controlled by a touch screen and connected via the web to famous European prehistoric sites. The game takes young people on a journey to compare Europe today to Ice Age Europe with no frontiers. The system has a live chat feature and an online photo-postcard to connect visitors at these important prehistoric cave sites and museums in Europe.

Kents Cavern, is a founding member of Ice Age Europe (www.ice-age-europe.eu), the network of Europe’s most important prehistoric sites associated with Ice Age human occupation. 

It was very exciting for us to be invited and involved in this project - the relationship between Kents Cavern and TTPL goes back many many years and, we are pleased to say continues to grow year by year. A huge 'THANK YOU' to Nick and James at Kents, it was our pleasure to be involved.

What can a student do for your business? A placement provider tells us!

We often get e-mails and phone calls saying how well students have done and how much fun they have had... occasionally I get a message that really highlights what we do and (excuse the lack of modesty here) how good we are at doing it.

There is a company in Plymouth, called Adelie; we have worked with them for a good few years and over that time we have got to know Penny and Pete quite well and our students always have a great time with them. We are in contact fairly regularly and today I received a message that demonstrates the difference that our amazing students can make...

It started with an offer of student placements for next year and included this line... "We have had other students from different companies in the past, but none have worked out or fitted in nearly as well as the students you have found for us!"

I went back and asked Penny if it was ok to use a quote from her message and the reply was great...

"Absolutely, you can use a quote! In fact, I would go as far as saying.....without Sara this March, who took up the reigns for me just after I had my operation & Martina who you placed with us from May to August last year, we would have really struggled to get through all the work!"

Now this isn't an easy option or 'free' workers, the European mobility programmes are far more demanding than that.... these young people are mentored and guided, coached and taught. Pete, Penny and the team really do work very hard to welcome students and ensure that they gain a great deal from their placement (and enjoy a great time in Plymouth) - They also have the opportunity to 'create' something for themselves during their placements...you can see Sara modeling her jacket - designed and embroidered during her time at Adelie! 

With their new project 'House of Marguerite', designing & making, bespoke vintage inspired lounge wear, I'm sure there will be some great opportunities for future students.

Thank you Adelie and Bluebells and Nightingales - you, like all of our work placements, really do make a difference and you efforts and support are appreciated.

Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen, lebewohl, ciao, adios, arrivederci, da svedanya, la revedere, au revoir, arrivederci..... farewell and see you soon Sam

Goodbye is not the end of everything but merely the beginning of something new!

Today is a very strange day for me; sadly it is my last day here at The Training Partnership. My time with TTPL has been fantastic; full of fond memories, faces, experiences, hard work and laughter!  I cannot start to express how thankful I am for the experience and the responsibility I was given.  I have only been here for 14 months but I have learnt so much, grown as a person and gained the confidence to tackle anything that life can throw. Looking back, my time has been filled with smiling faces, amazing people, interesting stories and more importantly a sense that the work I and TTPL do is worthwhile and meaningful. I have welcomed over a 1000 European trainees, helping them to settle in this weird and wonderful country, taken 100’s to work experience placements aiding their professional development whilst organising lots and lots of events, activities and social nights to ensure their time here is fantastic and memorable!!

 From Boat Parties to BBQ’s, pub quiz’s to cream teas, karaoke nights to leading cultural visits, teaching educational classes, English nights, London excursions, hospitals trips, Xmas card making and Halloween ghost tours… I’ve done it all! Life at TTPL is fast paced, ever changing and definitely not boring.  I would like to thank everyone I’ve met for helping me on my journey and a special thank you to the TTPL team for being warm, happy, funny and genuinely great! It’s been a pleasure working with you all and it won’t be forgotten!
So where to now I hear you say …. Well not to rub it in but I’m off travelling – Seeing the impact TTPL has on student’s and the joy our participants gain from being in a new environment, experiencing a new culture and different traditions,  I have decided to see more of the world! I and my girlfriend (also called Sam) are touring Thailand for 4 weeks, and then it’s a quick visit to Singapore (where chewing gum is illegal!! – crazy) before we’re off ready to celebrate Christmas and NYE in Sydney….then who knows!!!  Fiji, New Zealand…USA (route 66) maybe even MARS hahah! I’ll be sure to update you! Follow me on Facebook J I might even create a video blog with my new GO Pro

And now, the end is near; so is this blog I’ve written. My friends, I'll miss you all, I've packed my case, and leaving Britain. I'll live a life that's full, travelling each and every highway; And more, much more than this, I will do it SAM’s way!     

Stay safe Sam, we will all miss you!



With love and our very best wishes from all of us at The Training Partnership
bon voyage !

MTI Event 2014 - and a visitor from Saxony

This week saw the annual MTI (Manufacturing Technology and Innovation) event, organised by the TDA and held at the Riviera International Conference Centre.

This year we put out an invitation to some of our partner organisations who send us engineering based students and are delighted to have been able to welcome Tina Butterbrodt from Bildungs Werkstatt Chemnitz gGmbH. She arrived on Wednesday evening and enjoyed a two night stay at The Grand on Torquay sea front. A lovely 'English' hotel (according to Tina) and very convenient for the RICC. Pretty good breakfast too!

As soon as we arrived at the event we bumped into Torbay mayor, Gordon Oliver, who welcomed Tina and spoke for a while about the Torbay twinning with Hamelin and the great relationship we have with many organisations in Germany. We also had a very interesting conversation with Stephen Criddle - Principal of South Devon College. I think a proper visit to the college will be in order for Tina's next visit to Torbay!

We spent a few hours at the event and had the opportunity to speak with many of the High Tech companies in this area that have (and will continue to) host our/her students - with some excellent experiences and stories to tell - it was a very enjoyable time. A very interesting presentation from Spirent and some inspiring young people demonstrating their technical skills! Before we continued our day Tina asked about the differences between the German and UK Apprenticeship system - with particular reference to Engineering. A very big 'thank you' to Anthony Sutton from South Devon College who spent some valuable time explaining the current system and how we train our young people - excellent!

A visit to our offices to introduce Tina to the TTPL team and then...LUNCH! We (Nadine and I) took Tina to the new Visto Lounge, a really great demonstration of how the bay is developing - excellent food and a lovely location.

Then on to have a tour of Torbay, as it was Tina's first visit to this area we felt it was important to show how much there is here, so in spite of the weather we drove around the area pointing out the many highlights of Torbay - ending at South Devon College, where I was told that "we have nothing like this in Germany" - high praise indeed for our local college!  We rounded off the day with our weekly student meeting, this week at the AMF Bowling on Torwood Street - 113 students all having an amazing time in a European all comers challenge - so good to see them all having fun and also an opportunity for Tina to meet up with one of her students currently here with us and many of the others from across Europe. All in all a very good day and I know that Tina enjoyed her brief time here in Torbay.

They have arrived!

Our GrowEurope students have just touched down in mainland Europe (Lucky them!).

Some of you might have seen them out and about in Torquay 2 weeks ago. They were here for their   pre-departure training consisting of Cross Cultural training, Language lessons and Work preparation. They even got involved with our European students practicing their language skills at our weekly Language Cafe.

Our GrowEurope group is made up of 14 graduates from all over the UK. The lucky few have been given a fantastic opportunity to complete a work experience placement in either France or Germany!

After their pre departure course here at TTPL, they had a week at home to prepare and  have finally left England to begin this amazing experience. 

Our guys will be spending 10 weeks in 3 different cities; so here they are:

Tabby, Johanna, Becky and Jodie are excited to start their new adventure in Nancy;

Bordeaux has just given Ellie, Jenny, Holly and Sam a big welcome!

And finally Aidan, Ray, Nathan, Nitin, Eira and Emma  have just arrived in Leipzig, Germany.

Good luck guys!

Enjoy your time and make an incredible experience over there!