Specialist Placements with our Participation Team

Our Specialist Placement programme is for students (18+), graduates or those returning to work or retraining.

We offer experience of a working environment delivering performing arts activity and training, working with a variety of demographics.

Placements will largely involve shadowing our delivery team on a number of projects, with opportunities to observe and discuss best practice. There may be limited opportunities to lead an activity such as a warm up or focus exercise, but the Specialist Placement will not be asked to regularly lead a group or direct a rehearsal. This is not volunteering in place of paid work, and is intended to give the Specialist Placement an industry insight.

In the event that the Specialist Placement should be asked to do any cover work, chaperoning etc. then this would be paid at our standard rate. There is no guarantee that paid work will be offered during or after a specialist placement.

Specialist placements run from October through to May, with the option to extend through to July if this is of value to both Theatre Royal Wakefield and to the Specialist Placement. Applications open in September, to be received no later than 14 October and interviews will be held on 19 & 20 October.

Applications and interview

Specialist placements are time-intensive and demanding for the Participation team at Theatre Royal Wakefield and for the freelancers delivering our projects. For this reason, we ask that any applicants are committed for the duration of the placement, have good availability and are genuinely interested in a career in the Performing Arts. Applicants should be 18+ and local to the Wakefield District.

If your application shows these qualities, then you may be invited to interview with the Participation team, where we will discuss your suitability for placement. We strongly suggest that you are familiar with the work that we do. You can find out more about this work at theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk/take-part

If you need to discuss this form before completing it, or have any questions about placements, please contact Gavin.Leonard@theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk or call 01924 330060

Safeguarding

Working with Theatre Royal Wakefield often involves working with children or vulnerable adults. Therefore, Theatre Royal Wakefield reserves the right to run security checks (with the Disclosure and Barring Service, DBS) on applicants for certain positions. At interview, this important part of our recruitment procedure will be discussed with you and you will be informed if it is considered appropriate for such a check to be carried out in your case. If a DBS check is undertaken it will be done so in line with the DBS code of practice. Please visit gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-code-of-practice to view the code.

Theatre Royal Wakefield has a policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders which is available on request

Placement Structure

Term One

The Specialist Placement will be expected to attend a minimum of eight sessions total, across the following projects:

Chime (Tuesdays, 4:00pm-6:30pm at Theatre Royal Wakefield)

In on the Act (Wednesdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm at Theatre Royal Wakefield)

Conversation Café (Thursdays, 5:30pm-8:30pm at Theatre Royal Wakefield)

Performance Academy (Saturdays, either 9:30am-1:30pm in Pontefract or 2:00pm-6:00pm in Wakefield)

Wakey Wakey (Saturdays, 10:30am-12:30pm at Theatre Royal Wakefield)

Stepping Out (Mondays, 10am-12.30pm at Theatre Royal Wakefield)

Exact dates are negotiable.

Term Two

The Specialist Placement will be invited by the Participation team to discuss their experiences on the above projects. The Specialist Placement will then be asked to attend regular weekly sessions at one of the above named programmes.

Term Three

The Specialist Placement will have the opportunity to discuss their log book, reflective journal or any other course-relevant assessment (if applicable) with the Participation team. The Specialist Placement will have the option to extend the placement through to July if this is of value to both Theatre Royal Wakefield and to the Specialist Placement.