Three students have today (Monday 16th September 2019) been awarded with a nationally recognised certificate in radio, following their successful completion of a new course with the Erewash Sound Academy. The first intake of students undertook a twelve-session programme learning how to create a radio programme, in order to achieve their Level 2 certificate from national Awarding Organisation NCFE.
Eleanor Godber (18), Amelia Salmons (16) both from Ilkeston and Joel Kilford (16) from Toton created a portfolio of work to demonstrate their understanding of different radio stations, audiences and scheduling alongside developing ideas for radio content and recording a radio programme.
Lead Assessor for the course Jeff Martin said “It’s a fantastic achievement to have reached the next milestone in our Academy journey by awarding our first industry-recognised qualifications.
“We already have a track record for seeing our trainees develop skills to gain employment in the media and these qualifications support our commitment to building the skills of local people looking to take the next steps in their career”.
The ‘Create A Radio Programme’ course incorporates the latest industry knowledge, supported by experienced broadcaster Pete Allen on the teaching team. Pete commented “After 25 years working in radio, it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to engage and excite the next generation of presenters and producers with hands-on experience in modern professional studios”.
Last September, a brand-new training studio was unveiled at the Media Centre in Cotmanhay, delivered thanks to £10,000 of funding from DHL UK Foundation to support the training and development of young people from across Erewash.
The Erewash Sound Academy is the training and development arm of Erewash Sound, a not-for-profit community interest company which delivers a genuinely local radio station for local people, run by local people.
Our academy was born out of our internal presenter development training, a six-session programme to develop the skills of our new volunteer members to become presenters and producers.
Crucially our training does not assume prior radio experience, so the knowledge and hands-on skills are backed-up by practice sessions, demos and feedback before broadcasting live on our FM radio service.
Our new dedicated Erewash Sound Academy website has videos of our facilities and details of the next scheduled courses.