As part of their drive to create a more diverse workforce and to
address the acute skills gaps within the creative industries, the
ROH has created a series of apprenticeships.
The aims of the apprenticeship programme are:
i) To combat identified skills deficits within the performing arts,
both in technical departments and production departments, by
providing high-quality "fit for purpose" work experience,
vocational training, learning opportunities and
qualifications.
ii) To increase diversity in the workforce by informing and
exciting young people from a broad range of social and cultural
backgrounds about careers in the arts.
iii) To build partnerships with other arts organisations and
learning providers in order to maximise the value of training to
participants and to the cultural sector as a whole.
iv) To invest in and encourage Royal Opera House staff to act as
mentors, supervisors and assessors, enabling them to develop
mentoring skills and providing them with a forum to explore their
own job as well as promoting continuing professional development in
these areas of employment.
v) To provide a model of best practice for vocational training
within the cultural sector that is nationally valued, nationally
accredited and widely disseminated.
vi) To raise awareness nationally of viable careers within the
technical and production departments.
vii) To share and promote the skills excellence that is based in
the Royal Opera House.
Current Apprentices:
Scenic Artist - this apprentice is in her second and final year.
Her training (Post Graduate Certificate in Scenic Art) was provided
by RADA and all came at the front of her apprenticeship - spending
4 terms at college and all her holiday time in the workplace. She
is now working full time until her apprenticeship ends. This
apprenticeship place was offered in an innovative partnership with
the National Theatre who also take a scenic art apprentice thus
allowing the apprentices to swap between the workshops of the two
theatres. As the work done by the two venues is so different, they
each get a fantastic grounding in a huge range of techniques and
scenery.
Scenic Metalworker - this apprentice is in the second year of a
three year apprenticeship, working in the ROH workshops in East
London and studying at Havering College at CEME one day a week. He
will be working towards an advanced apprenticeship in Welding and
Fabrication and says "at college we don't work on anything bigger
than half a metre. At the Royal Opera House the metalwork can be a
wall or flooring 8 or 9 metres high or wide."
Costume - this apprentice has just started and will experience
three different costume departments during his 18 months with the
ROH. He will be working toward an advanced apprenticeship as a Hand
Garment Maker and spends 2 days a week at Newham College. He has
already enjoyed workplace experience in Savile Row.
Community Arts - this apprenticeship has just started at the ROH
Thurrock and Thames Gateway Education department. His course will
last 2 years and will culminate in a level 3 award in Community
Arts Management studied at South Essex College.
Graduated Apprentices:
Armoury - after spending 18 months in the ROH armoury department
and graduating in August 2009, this ex-apprentice is now hoping to
study Armoury Restoration at the Metropolitan University. He says
"taking part in this apprenticeship and working for the Opera House
has helped me grow as a person and given me more confidence to know
that I can achieve things if I work at them. It has shown me a
world I never knew about and shown me how a theatre works and all
the effort and planning that goes into putting on a
performance."
Scenic Carpentry - this apprentice won Apprentice of the Year at
the Building Crafts College in East London. After spending 2 years
on the apprenticeship scheme, he is now permanently employed in the
ROH scenic workshops in Beckton. He said ".. the apprenticeship
scheme has benefitted me greatly.... it has helped with my life
skills ie talking to other people. I now feel confident to voice my
opinion about my ideas regarding the work.... I am now aware that I
am more practically minded and can look at problems from a
different view and try to find a way around them."
For more information about the subject of this case study - contact
Bendy Ashfield,
Apprenticeships Manager visit the Royal Opera House website