Stage is set for students to gain technical
Ayrshire College has joined forces with Ayr ’ s Gaiety Theatre and University of the West of Scotland ( UWS ) to create a one of a kind Technical Theatre programme .
The College is expanding its Technical Theatre courses to become the only college in Scotland offering NC , HNC and HND level Technical Theatre after the success of the HNC course ’ s inaugural year at the Ayr campus . Upon successful completion of the HND course , students will be able to join year three of UWS ’ unique degree course , which is partly delivered at the Gaiety Theatre .
The Technical Theatre course prepares students for stage management and technical production , as they work with lighting , sound , stage design , set design and construction amongst other event essentials .
The course equips students with the necessary skills to gain employment in the theatre industry . The skills learned in Technical Theatre will also allow graduates to pursue a number of other creative pursuits .
Ayrshire College students currently support the performing arts department with skills
the technical aspects of their theatre productions .
Technical Theatre lecturer at the College , John Turner , said “ We have a thriving performing arts department here . In the past , their students have done everything – the sound , the lights , the sets etc . Now suddenly we ’ ve taken that on for them , which has allowed them to raise the bar on their production values . Technical Theatre has helped enormously .”
We are now accepting application for the Technical Theatre courses for 2016 / 17
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Ayrshire College Games Development student , Russell Anderson from Patna , is well on his way to turning his hobby into a career designs games for a living .
Russell recently took part in Scotland ’ s biggest gaming exhibition , where he had a stand at Insomnia Gaming Expo in Edinburgh . An entrepreneur from a young age , Russell started his own gaming company from home four years ago . As well as developing games , he regularly travels around Europe to gaming industry exhibitions , promoting his company and his latest designs .
Russell said “ I ’ ve been a computing nerd since I was about six , now it ’ s become cool to be a gamer . I ’ ve always found it interesting to design games and apps , so for me to help out at the college CoderDojo clubs is fantastic . I enjoy helping kids , teaching them programming , coding and listening to them . For a lot of them , working in the gaming industry is a dream job .”
Once Russell finishes at Ayrshire College , he is going on to a Games Application Development degree course at Abertay University . Russell has already had a pre-job interview with one of the biggest gaming companies in California , USA . When he finishes his degree , he plans to work for them as a Server Architect , turning his passion into an exciting gaming career .
CoderDojo in South Ayrshire
CODERDOJO AYRSHIRE IS HOSTED BY AYRSHIRE COLLEGE AND IS RUN BY DEDICATED STAFF FROM THE BUSINESS AND IT DEPARTMENT . CODERDOJO CLUBS PROMOTE COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN A FUN , THOUGHT- PROVOKING AND INSPIRING WAY , AND ENCOURAGES SEVEN TO SEVENTEEN YEAR OLDS TO CONSIDER STUDYING COMPUTING AT SCHOOL , COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY . THE CLUBS RAISE AWARENESS OF THE REWARDING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE IN THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING ICT AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR .
In partnership with CoderDojo Scotland at the Glasgow Science Centre , the College launched CoderDojo Ayrshire in November 2014 . CoderDojo Ayrshire is now the most active in Scotland , with over 500 young people attending clubs since then .
We hold CoderDojos at our Kilwinning Campus and places like the Maritime Museum in Irvine .
CoderDojo champion , Loraine Johnston , Curriculum Manager for Business and IT at the College , took charge of setting up , running and maintaining the Dojos . Loraine said “ It ’ s a great way to help get young people interested in coding and bridge the skills gap in the computing industry in Scotland , the UK and Europe .”
The club helps young people across Ayrshire fulfil their aspirations of developing apps , writing programmes or building a website .
Keep an eye on our website or www . coderdojoscotland . com for upcoming dates .
Ayrshire College hosted workshops for primary and secondary school pupils as part of British Science Week 2016 , a ten-day programme of science , technology , engineering and maths events . The pupils came to the College ’ s Ayr campus from all over Ayrshire .
First year students at Ayrshire College volunteered to help facilitate the workshops and offered advice to the pupils . The students spoke about college experiences and what their courses involve . Catriona McKay , 16 from Ayr , said “ These workshops have been set up to get the pupils educated and interested about science , so that hopefully they will pursue science when they reach secondary school . It ’ s been absolutely wonderful to assist today . I ’ ve always been interested in science and right now I ’ m doing NC 5 Biomedical Sciences .”
Apply for courses starting August 2016
RAISING ASPIRATIONS INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES INSPIRING ACHIEVEMENT www . ayrshire . ac . uk