Intern Opportunities at Ufton Drama Summer School

The Intern Programme

Over the years, we have recognised that those people who work on the staff of summer school can gain significant additional experience which offers them a raised profile for employment, training or education both as teachers and in other professions.

As a result, we launched an intern programme in 2015 with the primary intention of assisting former summer school students with an exceptional work experience.

Through working closely with staff before, during and after the course, interns can develop skills in:

• Teaching and learning
• Planning for the delivery and support of creative, practical drama and theatre
• Organisation and management of a course targeted to gifted and talented drama students
• Liaison and negotiation with professionals for the education and other sectors
• Supporting and assisting in children and young people’s academic and personal development

Each intern position is offered on a one-year only basis which follows an application and interview process. The intern programme is managed by one of course tutors, Peter Ging.

Eligibility

The Ufton Drama Summer School aims to provide all interns with an experience that is of high personal value. As such, the applicant must be able to identify in their application letter how the internship would provide an experience that would be beneficial to their future career intentions or current work. The placement is open to all alumni irrespective of when they finished their final course or how many courses they completed.

Expectations

• Applicants would be expected to meet criteria and a profile agreed by the Summer School staff
• Any intern would receive no payment and be expected to pay their Ufton accommodation expenses.
• All Interns would be expected to apply and secure DBS clearance for working with young people.
• The intern would be expected to attend all team meetings prior to the course.
• The intern would be expected to adhere to the values and practices of the summer school staff.
• The intern would assist in sessions supporting students and assisting groups in the development of their work.
• The Intern would be given the opportunity following planning and guidance to contribute within a session led by a tutor. This may include modelling work with the tutor or presenting a section or element within a session.
• The intern would make specified contributions to the domestic working of the course alongside the course staff.
• The interns would have a specified member of the course staff responsible for their contribution, learning and achievement on the course.
• The intern would receive on completion of the course a debriefing session and report on their work.
• The Summer School could offer to act as a referee on employment, education or training applications.

After completing all four programmes, I took up the fabulous opportunity of being an intern on this year’s Restoration Comedy course. Although I am currently studying at the Guildford School of Acting I would fully recommend the experience to anyone, regardless of whether they are interested in a career in the arts or not.

One of the key things that sets the course apart from other residential courses is that every student is treated as an individual. As such, when being a part of the pre-course organisation and development, I learnt how this is done to the benefit of every student regardless of performance ability or self-confidence as well as trying to balance the financial side of things. Attending meetings and being copied into the emails that are sent throughout the year prior to the course allowed me to understand the detail that goes into planning it which gave me even greater joy when watching the final performances, knowing that all the hard work throughout the year had been a success.

Whilst at Ufton I was given the opportunity to help lead warm-ups and even teach part of a session. Although teaching part of a session was daunting it was a lot of fun and it allowed me to experience what it is like to gage the progress that the students were making through the material. I then had a chat with my mentor about how I thought it went and what I would do differently next time. I can safely say it isn’t as easy as the tutors make it look!

One of the most important things I learnt on the internship was how to maintain a friendly but professional working relationship with the students, especially students I have known for a long time. It is hard to get the balance right between being friendly and welcoming to a student whilst maintaining the distance from them that is needed to be a successful tutor / intern. However, I can safely say that once you get this balance right the experience becomes even more rewarding. Watching the progress of a student who was struggling at the beginning of the week, seeing them grow in confidence through the sessions before smashing the end of week task is something I will remember for a long time.

How Do I Apply for an Intern Role?

The closing date for the 2019 internship has now closed but we shall be considering applications for the 2020 course. If you would like to be considered for an intern role with the Ufton Drama Summer School then please send a formal letter of application accompanied by a current CV. Those shortlisted for the placements will be invited to interview early in January 2020.

Early application is recommended.

Applications can be sent using our Contact Us form.

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