Personally Speaking - Andrew Davenne

These Personally Speaking pieces were originally featured in the sentinel and will reference events and activities that have happened in the last academic year.

Digital is an expedient means for young people in #StokeonTrent to develop into confident, capable assets of industry and society.

Being part of a dynamic, forward-looking and certainly talented team at the Stoke on Trent College Digital and Creative Hub (DCH) is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. Like a lot of young people, I was always wondering what the future would hold and my part in the world.

It was to my surprise that I started out in Stoke-on-Trent, studying design and creative processes; the journey took me to London, Birmingham and Europe. However, I wanted to work with young people, particularly those in Stoke-on-Trent. There was a burgeoning digital and creative scene here in this city and if I could build a wonderful creative world to inspire skills development and bring hope to young people, serving and enabling youth was the dream.

Two years ago, we established the DCH, a dream made real. The Hub is a place that evolved from constantly and closely working with balancing the skills gaps of regional industry sectors, #highereducation and the needs of the young people of the city and surrounding area. One key value of the College is being Inclusive, the Hub allows learners of all levels and learning styles to progress, and teachers have the approach that every learner can use digital and creative methods to succeed.

There are no shortcuts for young people, they need support and encouragement. Education is the art of learning taking place with those who have the most barriers, hardship and limited aspiration. Recently, learners have been involved with creating adverts for VCCP , a large advertising agency, carrying out workshops with Photographers from Canon. Learners actively work with local employers, Carse and Waterman Productions , Alton Towers Resort , Valentine Clays Ltd , and even Wrights Pies . Being a profoundly deaf person myself, seeing the learners thrive alongside employers and develop the self-belief they can build careers themselves is a powerful force in the development of the regional skills agenda. A number of our learners have moved up to great jobs; from our World Skills finalist Chelsea working in graphic design, Alexandr who is travelling the world with the likes of Disney, Jamie becoming a lecturer at a university and other learners who have progressed to secure careers at Frontier Devs, Bet365 and other organisations offering an abundance of opportunities.

In testament to this, our learner numbers have grown year-on-year as has the number of courses we now offer in our #Digital and #Creative Hub. These encompass the full range of levels from School Links groups to Higher National Certificates (Level 4 Qualifications) ?through our partnership with University of Staffordshire , bridging higher education with industry. Our cross-disciplinary approach converges creative Arts, ceramics, digital art, programming and computer science, with an emphasis on problem-solving, project-based learning and lots of fun!

In scaling up, we are embarking on T-Levels in Digital Software Coding and Broadcast Media, making us well placed to implement such courses, following ￡750,000 T-Level funding developing new facilities and studios within DCH. This is part of the exciting ￡13 million capital development of our buildings, the vision for being the City’s technical College.

Lisa Capper MBE , our Principal and CEO says:

“In line with the college’s aspirations to be the best possible provider of technical education for the city, these developments will provide high-quality learning spaces for our students and our staff and will offer industry-standard facilities so students can achieve the skills and qualifications necessary to meet the changing needs of the region’s employers.”

The College has also recently launched a ‘Future Skills Pledge’, Carse and Waterman have signed up to this pledge; a key digital company that is a role model for all digital possibilities in Stoke-on-Trent.

Our Local Enterprise Partnership and the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce Local Skills Improvement Plan, highlight skills gaps; placing digital and creative as a cross-cutting industry that underpins all key growth sectors in #Staffordshire. Through participating in the Chambers Digital Forum, Silicone Stoke and the new Createch group, it is crucial that Stoke on Trent College takes every opportunity to be at the forefront of digital as we continue to inspire and innovate learners for the future.