Stockton Riverside College::Performing Arts Microsite::Centre of Vocational Excellence Page

Centre of Vocational Excellence

Stockton Riverside College has a long history of success in the Performing Arts stretching back over forty years with alumni that include the actors Richard Griffiths and Liz Carling.

The College’s excellent performance standards have been acclaimed nationally and are the result of the highest quality teaching, first class facilities and an outstanding track record of students progressing to leading drama and dance colleges or directly into employment.

Through the Centre of Vocational Excellence the College is committed to bridging the gap between education and employment, offering the best training, the best facilities and the best opportunities for performing arts practitioners in the North of England.

The Performing Arts Centre is widely recognised as something special - a place where the art of performance is learnt before the experience of performance is taken for granted.

It is a place that is not just about entertainment, but also excitement, endeavour and a never-ending creative charge of energy.

It is a place where existing work is performed at the highest level, whilst new work is created and published. A place where excellence is standard practice.

The staff team provide a complementary mix of expertise and recent industry experience that they invest in their students – and the rewards are clear in terms of student outcomes and the outstanding reputation of Stockton Riverside College in the field of Performing Arts.

“We ask ourselves ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?”

Nelson Mandela, School Mission Statement

Through its Centre of Vocational Excellence, Stockton Riverside College is committed to providing the Tees Valley’s performing artists with the best possible opportunity to earn a living in the region. As a result, a range of local businesses are benefiting from the skills being taught at the College’s Performing Arts Centre to help create a first class workforce for the 21st Century.

A successful link has been forged with ARC, Stockton’s leading arts venue, which serves as a rehearsal, training and performance space for students and hosts a range of courses and training opportunities accessible to the wider community.

As well as the College producing and presenting outstanding public performances at ARC, the venue provides a ‘hands-on’ training experience for its students at both front-of-house and behind-the-scenes, ensuring the availability of well-qualified staff trained to excellent standards.

The College’s Centre of Vocational Excellence offers courses in Performance, Dance, Drama, Singing, Ballet, Guitar, Keyboard, Technical Theatre, Stage Design and Costume design. Through the colleges relationship with Actors Centre North East a series of master classes have been developed.

Stockton Riverside College is part of a much wider cluster of creative organisations helping to put the Tees Valley on the map, working alongside the Arts Council, Creative Partnerships, local authorities, theatre companies, media outlets, the Universities of Teesside and Durham, and a range of other agencies.

Performing Arts can benefit employers in most sectors as it equips students with useful tools such as presentation skills and motivational speaking, which are appropriate to a wide range of occupations. Any employers wishing to explore opportunities for Performing Arts training within their organisation are invited to get in touch.

“Performing Arts is a specialist area, but the skills that the Centre of Vocational Excellence at Stockton Riverside College is offering will benefit students in a wide range of sectors. The network of CoVE’s will allow employers like ourselves to have a greater involvement in the courses that will be delivered to students, which will combat any future skills shortage and keep talented young people in this region.”

Kevin Parker, Director of ARC, Stockton-on-Tees

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Stockton Riverside College Harvard Avenue Stockton-On-Tees TS17 6FB United Kingdom