Carnival of Creative Crafts


We're pleased to hear that the NCFE Level 3 Award in Creative Craft has been a huge success at Isle of Wight Carnival Learning Centre with NCFE carnival students displaying their costumes at national and international events, including the Nice Carnival in France and Viareggio Carnival in Italy!

 

The centre delivers the course to adult learners and makes the course accessible to all by delivering the course during school time to allow parents with childcare issues to take part and by offering discounts to unemployed learners.

 

The learning centre has its own dedicated carnival centre with specialist arts and crafts facilities and gives students access to complementary weekend masterclasses led by expert tutors in their field (e.g. body painting, pattern cutting, carnival dance, silk painting, 3D foam sculpture).

 

The centre is keen to make the qualification relevant by linking the students' final course brief to current themes and issues. For example, Level 3 students from 2009 had to explore the theme 'everyone's games', connecting their work to the core themes and values of the Cultural Olympiad.

 

In the past, NCFE Creative Craft learners from the centre have gone on to become community carnival volunteers, or have become tutors themselves. Some learners have even become involved in nationally significant carnival initiatives; for example the award winning Blue Touch Paper Carnival. This disability arts project has recently been awarded the official London 2012 Inspire Mark, and EUROPA! - an outstanding piece of internationally acclaimed commissioned carnival art.

 

Frankie Goldspink, the course tutor at the centre, is amazed by what the learners have achieved through completing the course:

 

"They all achieve fantastic things, gaining new skills and confidences in all sorts of ways. This is often in the face of adversity, personal issues and special learning challenges. From the last group alone, 2 women have started up their own businesses in related fields, one has successfully got a job in a local school as an Learning Support Assistant and one student is now going to university to do a Foundation Arts degree."

 

To find out more about our range of Creative Craft qualifications on the Qualifications and Credit Framework, give us a call on 0191 239 8084 or email catherinemastaglio@ncfe.org.uk.