Innovative spotlight gives students a glimpse of life in the creative sector

More than 250 students from eight different schools had a fascinating insight into life in the creative industries – from TV production to video game design – when they travelled to Arthur Terry school for an innovative event.

On Tuesday, March 5^th the Sutton Coldfield School, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP), hosted the third Trust-wide Careers Sector Spotlight – this time focusing on the creative industries.

The spotlight seminar invited nine high-flyers from across the creative sector to speak to the students – who came from both secondary and primary schools – about their route I success, what inspired them, and the benefits and challenges of working in their field.

Event organiser and Trust Lead for Careers, Alex Zarifeh, said: “The idea was to welcome students from across the partnership, who each have a passion for creativity, in order to showcase a cross-section of creative roles, as well as exploring some of the unique benefits of pursuing one’s dream profession, alongside the extra resilience frequently associated when pursuing freelance, short-term contract and portfolio careers”.

Birmingham’s beat-boxing Poet Laureate Jas Gardosi got proceedings off to an explosive start by performing her spellbinding poem ‘Be Poet’, before telling the students about how she had overcome shyness to become a sought-after public speaker.

Vicky Boyce, of Third Kind Games, explained how she had found her natural space in the gaming industry, initially training to be a programmer but realising that game design was a better fit for her skills.

Arthur Terry alumni and ‘Hunger for the Hustle’ podcaster, Jake Fowler told the students: “It has been a dream to return to my old school after 20 years. Everyone has a story; it was a pleasure to share a little of mine.”

The children go a glimpse of life both behind and in front of the camera, when news duo Sam Hughes, a producer, and Rosie Dowsing, a journalist, talked to them about their work at ITV. Sam explained how he constantly worked on his creative output, making films outside of his day job just to hone his skills, while Rosie talked about the perseverance needed to make it in her role.

Finally, a trio of fascinating speakers from Birmingham City University impressed the students with their passion for fashion. Birmingham School of Jewellery’s Kate Thorley shared some of her designs, fashion undergrad Charlotte Carter talked about developing her design skills and portfolio, while fashion branding undergrad and artist Yavanica Sethi revealed how creativity helps build on the designers’ clothing creations to reach the market.

The students attending the event came from Arthur Terry, West Coventry Academy, John Willmott and five primary schools – Hill West, Scotch Orchard, St Chads, Two Gates and William MacGregor.

At the end, they got the chance to mingle with the speakers and ask them questions.

Jennifer Aitken, Headteacher at St Chads Primary School, said her students had been inspired by the event.

She said: “Our students were really engaged. One of our girls was inspired by Jaz’s story, the boys were hooked by the thought of getting into game design, another student enjoyed looking through the fashion students’ portfolios.

“We look forward to similar events in the future!”

Caption:

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The speakers all came from different parts of the creative sector, from TV to podcasting, from game design to fashion.

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Birmingham’s beat-boxing Poet Laureate Jas Gardosi performs ‘Be Poet’.

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Former Arthur Terry student Jake Fowler is now a successful entrepreneur and podcaster.

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ITV journalist Rosie Dowsing talked about life in front of the TV cameras.