From 6th – 10th July, the Southampton Cultural Education Partnership (SCEP) presented our second Cultural Collaborative Work Experience Programme. The week hosted 18 Year 10 students from St. George’s School, Cantell School and Oasis Academy, Lordshill.
The students took part in a series of workshops exploring skills necessary for roles in the creative industries. They explored the workplaces of a range of creative organisations in Southampton and met experts in the industry, learning about career paths and the opportunities to take part that are present throughout the city. The project was led by Mayflower, Turner Sims and Southampton & Isle of Wight Music, with workshops delivered by John Hansard Gallery, CityEye and Artswork. A massive thank you to all our members for their contributions: this informative and rewarding week wouldn’t have been possible without you.
Every morning, students were introduced to a creative professional who explained their role and launched a relevant activity. They were visited by a communications assistant, an arts administrator, a programmer and a producer. These dynamic sessions provided an opportunity for the students to ask the facilitators questions about their role and career path, before diving into activities made to simulate working in that role.
Excitingly, I (Philippa Evans) had the opportunity to lead one of these sessions, so I saw first-hand how the student’s confidence grew. On Tuesday morning, I spoke to the group about my work as Communications Assistant. I introduced them to the role and my own personal journey, sharing my perspective of the creative industry in Southampton.
After this, we spent some time producing content about the work experience week –these videos were planned, filmed, acted and edited entirely by young people and can be watched below on the SCEP YouTube channel. Excitingly, throughout the week the students experienced similar workshops from 3 other creative professionals, shining a light on a variety of roles within the creative industries.
On Tuesday afternoon, the students visited John Hansard Gallery where they had the choice between designing an art gallery or using professional cameras to film a video with City Eye.
John Hansard Gallery gave the student’s a private tour of Simeon Barclay’s Farewell Sweet Innocence exhibition, before giving them the chance to design their own exhibition space using clay, paper and magazines.
Whereas City Eye taught the students about the variety of job roles within the film industry and, with a brief lesson on shot types, the students were handed cameras to film their own short story. These creative activities introduced the students to collaborative work and problem-solving, whilst experiencing practical, creative activities.
On Wednesday, the students had an afternoon session ran by Artswork. Over the course of two and a half hours, participants had the opportunity to take part in career-focused discussions, interspersed with fun, creative activities. The students were very engaged and active in thinking and sharing about their own futures. During the discussions about future job roles, it was encouraging to see some of the young people taking on and sharing their learning from earlier in the week – for example, new insights about filmsets, using talking points from Tuesday’s session with City Eye. See below photos of some of the creative activities that took place: there was a Taskmaster-inspired task, a chance to design a costume and a watercolour workshop.
For Thursday’s activity, the students met an Assistant Producer from Turner Sims – here he started as a Young Producer on live music events. During this session, the students were challenged to produce a festival using randomised slips of paper representing an artform, an audience and a venue. During the process, students were challenged to consider the challenges and opportunities cropping up from their concept: one group had a lot to consider as they planned a dance event inside a library!
By Friday, the students were preparing for their showcase. Here, they were encouraged to be creative with their presentations – no Death By PowerPoint! -and so we enjoyed some short acting skits, interactivity and two short films. The students used humour and imagination to demonstrate their learning throughout the week. From acting as zombies working a 9-5 office job, to funny bloopers and the message to “work hard and stay humble” we were thoroughly entertained.
It was interesting to hear how working in mixed-school teams throughout the week had broadened students’ perspectives, fostered new connections, and developed communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
My personal favourite moment, however, was when one student said they’d learned lots from my session, enjoyed it and might consider communications in their career! Another student said, “I’ve learned creativity, critical thinking and many other skills for my future.” whilst another shared, “Turns out there’s way more behind the scenes [roles] and that was very interesting for me.” It’s been a pleasure to be one of the many people and organisations using this week to educate students about creative careers.
Finally, we were excited to invite our members to network with the students after the showcase. A speed-networking circle was set-up for the students and arts professionals to interact. This was a wonderful opportunity to see how the students have grown since the start of the week, as they asked insightful questions and showed genuine curiosity about different creative careers.
Appreciation to Mayflower, Turner Sims, Southampton & Isle of Wight Music, John Hansard Gallery, CityEye, ArtfulScribe and Artswork for delivering such a rewarding and impactful week.