WP co-operation leads to student success

CASE STUDY 13 June, 2008

Rose Bruford College is working closely with a number of regional and London further education colleges to encourage students from a wide range of backgrounds to consider studying a performance-related degree. Two of the College’s most successful relationships are with Lewisham College and New College Nottingham, with both of whom there has been a close relationship for a number of years. For example, for the last two years Rose Bruford has been sending an acting and technical theatre roadshow workshop to New College Nottingham, during which students are given advice and encouragement on audition and interview techniques. This builds on the earlier relationship: tutors from the Colleges had visited each other and built a good working relationship. As a result of this interaction, Rose Bruford College has taken on several students, some of whom have acted as ‘ambassadors’ on more recent visits. The current Rose Bruford students are able to relay their experiences and encourage the Nottingham students to apply for a place in a drama school or similar environment.

While some higher education institutions may have anxieties about addressing the challenge of the widening participation agenda, Rose Bruford’s experience has not borne this out and indeed has been very positive. Julian Bryant, Director of Community Outreach at Rose Bruford College, noted: “Some students coming to us through this type of partnership have attained extraordinary success. Richard (Rich) Porter, who came to us from New College Nottingham, graduated last year with an upper second BA (Hons) degree in Stage Management. Since then he has been working with ETC Audiovisuel using his knowledge of media streaming that he developed with us. He is now one of the few people in the country with the specialist expertise to put live video together in that way - so much so that we have since employed him to do specialist tuition with students here. Employing Rich has been very beneficial for Rose Bruford, especially given his ability to demonstrate new directions in technical performance, some of which he learned as an ambassador for us. And in the meantime, I’m still pointing prospective students at his blog (www.rich-porter.com) to get an impression of what modern theatre work is about. Similarly, Rose Bruford has welcomed other students from a wide range of backgrounds, who have gone on to work in a range of roles in West End theatres and touring theatres, and we have one alumnus who is a Stage Manager at a theme park.”

Rich himself commented “My tutors at New College Nottingham helped me to write my UCAS application, proof read my personal statement and advised on which universities would be best for me. I’d always wanted to take my learning to university level so the transition was an exciting one. I think that going onto university teaches you more than what is written into the curriculum and the tutors at Rose Bruford made sure that we were looked after, both in the classroom and outside of it.”

Emphasising the success of the partnership between the two institutions, Lisa Jones, Course Leader for the BTEC National Diploma in Technical Theatre Production at New College Nottingham commented: “This exciting relationship between New College Nottingham and Rose Bruford College clearly demonstrates that widening participation works. Opening the channels of communication between further education and higher education can only be beneficial to the student experience. I feel that this relationship works so well because both New College Nottingham and Rose Bruford College have a shared ethos and commitment to student learning - in this way the progressing students experience a smoother familiar transition as they continue their educational journey. Rich was always a fantastic student on the National Diploma in Technical Theatre course, seizing all opportunities available to him, and clearly his subsequent achievements are testament to this collaboration. I know that Rich is not the only mutual success story we have, and I look forward to the future successes of our students.”

That’s not to say it is all plain sailing. Julian adds “Some students still find the transition difficult, fearing that they will be leaving their own community behind, that the work might be too challenging and, in some cases, not what they hoped it would be. But at least they have taken the plunge and tried it out, rather than wondering all their lives about what might have been. Sometimes it is the unplanned outcomes that are the most important – Rich never imagined he would be doing what he is now when he joined us.”

Additional information:

• Biography of Julian Bryant, Director of Community Outreach, Rose Bruford College:
http://www.bruford.ac.uk/college_fellows_t.aspx?StaffID=3
• Photograph of Julian Bryant with students Amy Law (left) and Jaz Suraj (right)
(Photograph courtesy of Rose Bruford College/Julian Bryant)

• Biography of Rich Porter, Video Technician: http://rich-porter.com/about• Photograph of Rich Porter
(Photograph courtesy of http://rich-porter.com/)

• To contact Lisa Jones, Course Leader for the BTEC National Diploma in Technical Theatre Production, New College Nottingham, please email [email protected]

For further details, please contact:
Jackie Winmill, Publicity Co-ordinator on 020 8308 2655 or email [email protected]