The new Sound course will sit alongside the existing BTEC qualifications; Technical Skills in Live Entertainment and Stage Lighting, Rigging and Operation.
Loughborough College's head of enterprise and workforce development, Chris Garner, says: "The original proposal required some altering to suit the Edexcel criteria for a formal award and I would thank the aetti members for responding quickly to ensure that the delivery of the programme can proceed as planned. If the BTEC in Sound is as popular as the existing Lighting course then we would expect more than a 150 technicians to sign up for the course in the next year or so."
aetti secretary, Francesca Greatorex, has been heading up the team preparing the handbook, which will be given to all students to keep. She says: "We ensure that the learning objectives are written in a clear and concise manner. Our courses will run over a three-day period and we are expert in delivering a programme which has the right balance of information and practical work. It will be intensive but highly enjoyable."
Peter Ireson who chairs the aetti concluded by saying that he had joined the aetti after seeing the beneficial effects a course leading to an Award had upon his technical staff at Bedworth Civic Hall. "I now run another set of theatres where several of the staff have both of the existing BTEC Qualifications and will doubtless be clamouring to acquire the sound qualification. There is also no doubt that the training and the Awards produce a genuine 'feel good' factor among the technical team, its well worth it."
(Chris Henry)
