The Enemy Of Boredom Academy curriculum.
Once a student arrives, we will work on the anchors that have started their journey with us – remove barriers and make sure the student is ready to start their learning journey.
Belonging
At EOB Academy we believe all our students have potential despite their school experiences. We have a thorough transition into our setting which includes visits and tasters to see where we can best support a young person. Cohorts are carefully put together to support a young persons social and emotional needs. We aim to remove all barriers for the young person that have stood in their way – we then get ready for an education that will result in a feeling of achievement and belonging.
Sensory-aware
Enemy Of Boredom Academy provide a calm, sensory-aware environment that is motivating and designed to support the learner access to a curriculum rather than feel formal and threatening.
Feel in control
Students can be themselves from wearing their own clothing to having their own style of seat, all of which enables them to feel in control and valued. Communication methods can be adapted to suit those less confident, including the opportunity to type to the tutor, allowing students to build their trust and confidence with us. Movement breaks, refueling opportunities as well as access to a regulation space with whenever needed.
Transition
Students are supported in their transition through our thorough induction process. The conversations don’t stop there, we liaise closely with parents/carers, case workers and young people themselves to always ensure we are getting it right for the young person. We are willing to differentiate where necessary, provide scaffolding and support to ensure that the learning takes place at a pace suitable for them. Most importantly we provide a space that feels nurturing and fun, making learning possible without students even realising they’re doing it.
Industry standard vocational training and consistent linking to real life, building real products that will result in students leaving with a working product and portfolio.
At EOB Academy, both our curriculum and pedagogy are designed to equip young people with the competencies, personal qualities and qualifications they need to succeed in the workplace. But, the real differentiator for us is that our students aren’t just learning ‘about’ video games or music production for example – they’re actually doing it themselves.
Each of our students has a personalised education plan enabling us to offer a well-structured curriculum and ensure their individual learning needs are met. In addition to our core creative courses in contemporary arts we also offer functional skills qualifications in English and maths, as well as life skills.
Experiential learning
Students work on complex real-world projects, learning to follow a design specification and using the same industry standard tools and procedures that professional creators use. In our expert-led workshops, they master design environments such as Blender, Maya and Unreal Engine, as well as improve their metacognitive skills through challenges that involve planning, evaluating and collaborating with others.
Student-centred approach
Learning is flexible and personalised so that students get a high degree of choice in the way they approach the work. It’s all about innovation and flair, rather than just following instructions. Our tutors take a relational approach, offering regular feedback and encouragement to help draw out each student’s personal best. We use innovative collaboration tools such as Discord to host workshops and foster meaningful interactions among students and their mentors.
Modular assessment
The modern workplace is evolving rapidly along with the range of competencies employers seek. Our externally accredited qualifications are modular and assess exactly the skills that will make young people stand-out candidates in the jobs market. Our students also have the greatest range of options when it comes to their assessed portfolios, from a write-up to a YouTube review of their productions.
Industry partnerships
Working alongside experienced creators and networking with real players in the creative industries gives our students the best possible platform to make informed decisions about their own career pathway when the time comes. The best examples of our success in this area are when EOB Academy students create digital assets that are included in real commercial products. Whether our graduates want to enrol on a games design course at university or start their own indie games production company they have all the vocational skills and the confidence they need.
Making My Future is a partnership with an outside company that allows students to combine work/assets to produce real life products that are available to the public to buy. Making My Future is supported by industry professionals that understand how important it is to give Enemy Of Boredom students access to outside business opportunities.
This is The College Of Real Practice.
Making My Future is part of the Enemy Of Boredom curriculum and is supported by a team of like minded, creative industry professionals who set out with a clear vision to deliver businesses that are real and offer Enemy Of Boredom students the chance to get exposure to the world of creative business in a safe and supported environment – business leaders that care about the wellbeing and growth of a young person who is starting their work journey. This strand of the Enemy Of Boredom curriculum has been specifically designed for SEN students to create pride in seeing their confidence grow as they see their work out in the real world for the public to enjoy.
Helping to connect students to their forward journeys, connecting parents and students to the support they need once the journey has ended.
Work Experience:
Enemy Of Boredom offer in-house work experience for students to engage in projects outside of their course and qualification. This could be helping our team on our Flight Simulator experience or helping run a stage at an event specific to our Music Performance course.
We’re always looking at ways for our students to enrich the student experience at EOB and in turn helping students become more confident and skilled individuals, specifically around communication and time management.
Enemy Of Boredom aims to employ two students of ours each year who take part in work experience; this is a great example of what we can achieve together.
Next steps:
Our team has regular meetings with our students to explore options for when they leave EOB.
The full journey for our students is Level 1, to Level 2, to Level 3 but where do they go when they finish their journey?
Our aim is to link our students up with industry specific roles within their chosen vocation and this often leads to Level 3 students applying to university; we have great links with various universities and we will work with these students so that they reach this goal. We invite universities to speak to our students and we support students with their applications, including writing references for their chosen courses and university applications.
If university isn’t an option, then we will explore further education colleges, jobs and apprenticeships. One of our partners, NDreams, gives our Level 3 students industry-specific feedback and advice on their portfolios specifically in view of working in Game Development. Also, for Music Performance, our partner Club 85 will be linking EOB students with employment opportunities post-course, specific to audio and video production opportunities.