The Academy Of Tomorrow - Ceredigion College

THE ACADEMY OF TOMORROW - CEREDIGION COLLEGE

The Academy of Tomorrow was a pilot project by Coleg Ceredigion that piloted workshops in a number of priority sector areas for young people.

The project aimed to develop innovation and creativity, promoting entrepreneurship, and cultivating confidence and resilience.

The intention was to deliver two sets of workshops (Food Sector – Catering workshop, Performing Arts Sector – Performance workshop, Art Sector – Art workshop and Film or Graphics Sector – Media workshop) over a period of 8 weeks across 3 sector areas. The workshops were aimed at a cohort of school learners aged 14-16 with no specific career pathway in mind.

As this project was a non-accredited this allowed individuals to try out new skills without the pressure of being formally assessed. The activities created an environment that allowed participants to grow and develop as individuals as well learning how to work in teams. Participants were exposed to real business challenges and opportunities through the Project Creators and Tutors.

In addition to the practical workshops, learners were brought together for a short presentation, in the form of ‘Ted Talks’, from an established entrepreneur - Anouska from Penrhiw Pottery.

Following completion of the 8 weeks, an open evening was held as an opportunity for parents to see the output from the participants work and to see them being presented with certificates of attendance.

Overall, feedback from parents/guardians and participants were very positive. An example of this was that one participant was able to discuss his future business ideas with Business Wales and the project leaders, from these discussions routes to make this possible were identified.

Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, phase 2 of this project was unable to go ahead.

This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.