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Careers
During the spring and summer term, a group
of our aspiring year 8 students were involved
in a programme which aims to give an insight
into some training and educational options
available after leaving KEVICC. For the whole
of this venture we joined up with a group of
students from South Dartmoor Academy.
The programme involved different activities,
one of which was visiting Plymouth University
and Plymouth College of Art, who organised a
really interesting and diverse day for us. The
University gave a ‘mini lecture’ in Hospitality
and Tourism highlighting the many and varied roles, and also how a career in this area offers opportunities all over the world.
From there, we went to the Geology Department and the students were given a scenario of an impending volcano eruption.
Their challenge was to decide what type, and level, of warning local inhabitants should be given as the situation developed.
It was exciting and thought-provoking and our students were great at rising to the challenge. The final part of the day was
spent at Plymouth College of Art thinking of a word and, from there, developing a piece of art. I sat with a student who said
he hated art and very reluctantly started to doodle and, after a short time, he got really engrossed in his design. As we walked
back to the coach, he told me that was the best part of the whole day!
Value Theatre came in to KEVICC for a morning to host a workshop whose the aim was to get students thinking about life
after leaving education, looking at the cost of living and which careers are going to reward you with enough income to
support the lifestyle of your dreams and then, with those particular careers, what qualifications, skills and experience would
be required. They talked about the different progression routes; Btec/A levels to Degree or an Apprenticeship, some of which
can educate you up to degree level.
The final part of the programme was spent with Babcock at Devonport Royal Dockyard which was a fascinating and eye
opening experience for us all. The teamwere very welcoming – they provided each of us with steal toe capped boots, overalls,
googles and high viz jackets and we looked fabulous! We were shown around the repair workshops and got to look at several
craft undergoing repairs. Though we were unable to go onboard a submarine on this visit, we are hoping to take them up on
an offer to visit HMS Courageous in the near future. Devonport is now the largest naval base in Western Europe, and the sole
nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. As with all activities, we carry out an evaluation and I am extremely
proud to say that the students gave this project on the whole 8 out of 10!!
Nicola Ambrose, Careers
Media
Year 13 Media students have recently been helping the owners of the new Totnes Cinema to record memories from people
who went to the original cinema back in the 1950s and 1960s. Following a publicity campaign that the students ran in the
local media to find people to interview, they held filming sessions over two days at the cinema where they recorded the
reminiscences. The Kennicott students got involved in creating the archive of memories after their teacher, Martin Walker,
set up the project with the cinema’s directors Jane Hughes and Will Johnson.
Originally the venue, located on Fore Street in Totnes, was known as The Romany Cinema. It operated between 1946 and
1964, and later became the town’s library. When the library moved in 2011, the building became available, so Jane and
Will created a Community Interest Company to turn it back into a cinema for the town. This was an ideal fit for the KEVICC
students who had to complete a community-based project as part of their Creative Media Btec Diploma. Martin Walker
commented: ‘The course is all about developing the skills to work in the creative media industries, and this was a perfect
project for them because they had to pitch ideas to professional clients at the cinema, and then do the leg work to make sure
members of the public turned up to be recorded.'
The filming took place in the cinema, which is still in the
process of being renovated. Student Ellie Rothwell said that
working under these conditions was a challenge, but added
'it did show that we could use our initiative well and act
under pressure to still produce a pleasing piece.' At the
end of the project, Director Will Johnson told the students
'You’ve got some good memories there…and I really like the
way the shots were composed.' Another of the students,
Lewis Hall, said that the feedback from Will had been
encouraging: 'He mentioned that we acted extremely
professionally and were a pleasure to work with.'
The Totnes Cinema is currently running a series of pop-up
film events to raise money to complete the renovations;
details can be found at:
/
Future Choices opportunities
l to r: George Glynn, Alfie Lang, Ellie Rothwell, Will Johnson & Mike (Totnes
Cinema), Lewis Hall, Bill Ledbury. Others involved – Donald Watson and Aubrey Simpson
