Performing Arts students from the Newtown site of Coleg Powys performed their Christmas production ‘Boogie Nights’ last week at Theatr Hafren.

Boogie Nights is a British musical based upon the pop music of the 1970s and written by Jon Conway with Shane Ritchie and Terry Morrison.

The performance was coordinated by course leader and dance tutor Elizabeth Hebden, musical voice and acting tutor Ruth Scott and urban dance tutor Terry Cripps.  Other departments within the College helped to bring the performance together, including the carpentry, painting and decorating and art departments, as well as Theatr Hafren staff.

Elizabeth Hebden said: “It was a very successful performance with a great turnout.  I was really proud of the students who have worked really hard over the last couple of months.  They provided an outstanding show.”

Coleg Powys is offering a number of exciting new full-time courses for the 2009/10 academic year.

The College is now offering two Hair and Beauty courses on its newly equipped Brecon campus. The sport department at Brecon is also offering an Outdoor Pursuits Level 3 course, which will enable students to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of outdoor.

The College is extending its Welsh Baccalaureate provision to be offered in conjunction with the National Diploma in Health and Social Care and the National Diploma in Travel and Tourism, which can both be studied in Newtown.

The Welsh Baccalaureate is a qualification which is only available to students in Wales. It adds a valuable new dimension to the subjects and courses already available by adding personal development skills to them to make one wider award that is valued by employers and universities.

The Health, Social and Child Care Level 2 BTEC course is now offered at the Newtown site. This course is suitable for anyone who wishes to work in a child care or health and social care setting, in a supervised capacity.

The Information Technology department at the Newtown site has extended the Media Production National Award provision to include the option of studying T.V. and Film or Interactive Media, which is suitable for anyone who wants to work in the media industry.

There is also the Combined National Award Programme which gives students the opportunity to study four BTEC National Awards from an extensive range of subject areas, including Performing Arts, IT, Business, Sport, Travel and Tourism, and Health and Social Care.

For further details about these additional courses or on our existing range of courses please download the new courses booklet, visit the website at www.coleg-powys.ac.uk or contact Student Services by telephoning 0845 4086 200 or emailing enquiries@coleg-powys.ac.uk.

Coleg Powys provided a number of workshops throughout March for local schools to attend.  The workshops were designed to promote the development of generic drama skills; the effective use of stage lighting/sound, application of theatrical make-up, costume/set design and voice projection.

The workshops took place at the Brecon site, with the exception of the lighting/sound workshop which was run at Theatr Brycheiniog by the theatre’s own technicians.  The well qualified practitioners delivering the workshops included Suzi Dorey who was recently part of the design team hosting Madonna’s recent tour at the Cardiff Millennium Centre.

Pupils from local schools in the South of Powys took part in the workshops. Their feedback was  very positive and included comments such as; “I would love to do this as a career…”, “It’s been inspiring…” and “I have learned a lot about vocal sounds and breathing techniques and I can take this away and think how I can use it in my own drama work”.

The workshops were set up and financed as part of the 14-19 year old Powys Network, which is made up of a consortium of College Trainers, Providers and Schools.  The network has been developed to provide curriculum opportunities for students through collaborative work.  As well as running these workshops the College offers a range of vocational courses for 14-16 year olds in the areas of motor vehicle, construction, and hair and beauty, which school pupils have the option of doing alongside their GCSE’s.