Rye Studio School Working in Partnership with Business and the Community
What we can do for you We have new, purpose-built facilities stocked with the latest IT equipment. We also have bright and enthusiastic young people looking to specialize in a number of areas. We can offer: Business facilities at a reduced rate for all our partners and supporters. These will include a conference area, break-out rooms, café, outdoor space, and parking. We can also offer links for local hotels & restaurants to provide you with the full conference package. A dedicated business hub where our partners will have advertising opportunities, and can hold one-to-one meetings, with access to our café. Exhibition space to hire. Opportunities to discuss ideas with our specialist staff and coaches. A quarterly newsletter to all our business, arts and community partners highlighting the work they are doing with local young people. Networking opportunities at the studio school to help you promote your business and meet link-minded business directors. Young people who need real, live projects to work on; from designing a website, market researchers, musicians to play at your functions, artists to create advertising posters, photographers for your events and promotional material, to business students looking for marketing projects to work on. How you can help Rye Studio School Work placements Students aged 16-18 will spend two days per week away from school in work placements throughout their time with us. We fully appreciate the difficult economic climate in which we all live and that times are difficult for all sectors of business. We also understand the work day is full of highs and lows and that students do not have to be entertained constantly! We can help with: Bright, enthusiastic young people at the outset of their career who are willing to learn. Our students have taken a bold step to be part of this new, pioneering venture - work with them now before your competitors find their ambitious talent! Reduced recruitment costs (advertising, interviewing, trialling etc). A profile in the local community that you work with the Rye Studio School. Mentoring opportunities for your staff, especially younger managers new to leadership to help develop their confidence and people skills. A young person s perspective to help you market to all sectors of the community, for example with social media. Local people supporting local businesses. In return we hope you may offer to: Show students as many facets of your business as possible (eg creative, business, marketing, sales etc). Help young people understand what you need from them in terms of employability skills and developing the workforce of tomorrow. Allow them to get really involved so that they fully understand business. By experiencing numeracy, literacy and presentation skills in a work environment, each young person has improved career options and a better chance of achieving their career goals.
The Studio School model asks that students aged 16-18 are paid at least the minimum under 18 wage of 3.68 per hour. Payment demonstrates to the young person that you value their contribution and ensures you get the maximum from them. Recognising the economic climate, however, if you are a small business, or a one-person operative, exceptions can be made, for example, a contribution towards their travel and subsistence each day. Each work placement will be individually tailored to meet yours and the student s needs. We will meet you to discuss your business requirements and aspirations in advance to see how we can match the best possible students with you. We want to make work placements as realistic as possible: so we will post your placement in our business centre and actively encourage students to apply for it. We will short list applicants and send a handful to you for interview, and you can chose the most able and suitable candidate. If, however, you do not wish to do this, we can do it for you. Projects, workshops and mater-classes If you do not have the need for a work placement, but could offer us a genuine industry challenge, we would be delighted to use it for real-time project-based learning. You may also be interested in visiting the Studio School on a termly or quarterly basis to offer masterclasses and workshops in your professional sphere, or allow students to visit your company to see how the many facets of it work together to generate business. What we will do At the start of each year we will: Teach students what employability skills are and why they are essential. Help them to construct good CVs and how to market themselves. Demonstrate ways in which they can get jobs. Coach them on interview skills. Coach them on presentation skills. Give tutorials on the different types of businesses (eg SME, corporate, self-employed) and an introduction to tax, VAT and accounting. Coach them on reflective practice to increase the value of their learning each week. Throughout the year we will: Review the placement with the employer and the student. Visit the student at work for a coaching session. Students will also be supported by their own personal coaches with whom they meet fortnightly. Coaching helps them to reflect on and embed their learning and be motivated for the challenges ahead. Way forward If you are considering offering a work placement to a young person or would like to find out more about this local education and business partnership, we would be delighted to hear from you. Rebekah Gilbert, Assistant Principal Designate for Business, Arts and Community engagement is your key point of contact. Email: rgilbert@ryecollege.co.uk Tel: 01797 228433
As you would expect, we have a duty of care for all our students and so we undertake a short and informal meeting with you before any student takes up a work placement to go over the following: Health and safety checks plus risk assessments; Safeguarding; Employers and public liability insurance. These meetings are informal and as much a chance for you to ask questions and be assured and clear on who is responsible for what. There is nothing onerous about taking on a student and it simply replicates what you are already doing with your existing employees. How do Studio Schools differ? There are a number of differences about a studio school: Learning in the workplace Students spend only a limited time in class with a teacher. What they learn there is taken instantly into your workplace to see how it works and why. It is learning in action in the real world. Knowing how business works, how it is marketed, and how it engages with customers is at the heart of learning within our Studio School. Project-based learning As well as learning in the classroom and on-the-job, students will engage in projects at the Studio School, led by professional creative practitioners and business leaders. It s an opportunity to develop their strengths as part of a team, and to be highly creative. They will also receive masterclasses from visiting professionals as part of their enrichment programme. In addition, we are hoping to offer the National Citizenship Programme so that students are working with the voluntary and charity sectors. Personal coaching Coaching has been proven to help embed learning and is used by senior leaders in business throughout the world. Our students will be assigned a personal coach who will aid their learning and help them develop skills throughout their time at the Studio School. Being one of the few Studio schools take a maximum of 300 students. This ensures that every student feels valued as an individual. We offer a supportive, personalised learning environment in which strong pastoral care runs through our school s activities. A full working day Studio Schools are open for a full working day, from 08:30 to 17:00 so they feel like the workplace, not a school. Term time is longer so as to accommodate work placements and projects. Our Studio School will also be a business hub for our local community.
What is a studio school? Studio Schools evolved because businesses were continually telling educationalists that certain employability skills were lacking when students left school. Young people were not work ready and, as a result, youth unemployment was growing. The CBI Education and Skills Survey 2012 found the following from its survey of business: Employers say the need to provide businesses with the skills they require is the single most important reason to raise standards in schools (73%). For those in the 14-19 age group, employers believe schools and colleges should be prioritising development of employability skills (71%). Employers report weaknesses in employability skills including school leaver s selfmanagement (61%), business and customer awareness (69%) and attitude to work (37%). Some 57% of employers surveyed have already built links with secondary schools. The CBI wants to see a network of local business people acting as champions and developing school-business links. They are also promoting businesses commitment to providing high-quality, meaningful work experience. After extensive research in the UK and abroad, the Studio School model evolved to address these concerns. This will be achieved through the CREATE framework. Rye Studio School is at the forefront of addressing these issues, in partnership with you, the local business, arts and voluntary community.
Rye Studio School The Rye Studio School will be the first in Sussex and Surrey and opens in September 2013. It will support young people to develop the skills they need to gain employment, especially within our specialism of the creative industries. Our goal at the Rye Studio School is that every student leaves fully prepared and able to quickly find a good job, establish their own thriving business, get an apprenticeship, or gain a placement at the good university or HE College. To do this, they have to understand the world or work in advance. The Studio school will offer 100 places to 14-16 year olds, with 50 each in years 10 and 11. They can study the following: Compulsory Subjects GCSE Maths GCSE English GCSE IT and Media BTEC Double Science 2 Options GCSE Performing Arts GCSE Photography BTEC Production Arts BTEC Creative Media BTEC Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Once they have gained their GCSEs, students can continue at the Studio School studying for A level and BTEC level 3 qualifications. There will be 200 post 16 students, with 100 each in years 12 and 13. Vocational courses at Level 3 BTEC Creative Media Production (TV & film) Fashion and Clothing Performing Arts Dance Performing Arts Acting Music Production Arts (Technical) Enterprise and Entrepreneurship A Level courses Maths English Language and Literature Drama & Theatre Studies Art Art Textiles Photography Business (Applied) At the end of their time at the Rye Studio School, students aged 18+ will have the opportunity to progress on to university, or into employment with further training, or they will be confident in setting up their own business. Students will learn in the classroom at the start of the week, spend a day on projects and enrichment opportunities with professional practitioners, and the other two days each week will be spent in work placements.
Further information Full details on Rye Studio School can be found on www.ryestudioschool.co.uk Information on the Studio Schools Trust can be found at www.studioschoolstrust.org/ Principal Designate Ms Jo Townshend MA Address The Rye Studio School c/o Rye College The Grove Rye East Sussex TN31 7NQ Email office@ryestudioschool.co.uk Telephone (01797) 222545 (ext 393) @ryestudioschool
Rye Studio School Creating unique opportunities for young people locally A new way of learning; a new way of working. The first of the few pioneering students are applying now come with us to support them.