NMC Training’s Exciting Developments by Dee Valkering

New room

The training department has gone through lots of exciting developments in the last couple of months. We have currently moved into a new, larger training room. This will give us the possibility to expand our work stations and deliver training to more students at any one time. It also gives us the opportunity to run more courses and/or workshops along side each other.

More courses on offer NMC

Training has expanded their course offer to Life Skills, including English & Maths and personal skills, Animation, Digital Music and a soon to be started Photography workshop. Currently we run Graphic design and Digital Music courses at the same time. It is great to see how the graphic design students are also keen to try the digital music course once they see their peers working on a piece of music. The digital music course is a fun course for anyone who enjoys music and would like to compose a piece of music themselves. Candidates work on a computer with a piece of music software called “Garageband”. This easy to use program allows users to put together music from pre-prepared loops in a variety of styles. Newcomers will be guided through the early stages of making something simple, but sounding good. Equally, users with more experience are coached through more advanced skills and using more complex combinations of music.

New tutors

We would like to officially welcome Steve Gaffney and Chris Burden as new members of the training team. Steve Gaffney is an experienced tutor and talented musician. Steve delivers Life Skills and Digital Music on Mondays and Tuesdays. Chris Burden graduated with a BA in Animation at Edge Hill University last year and currently delivers a 20 week Animation course, which is held once a fortnight on a Monday.

Taster sessions for ALL ages

The courses at NMC Training are for ALL ages and no previous experience is necessary.  Would you like to try any of the courses? Feel free to come along for a taster session and gain new skills in a friendly and informal environment. Suggestions for new courses/workshops welcome We welcome everyone with suggestions on other skills they would like to gain as we are currently looking for more ideas on a range of workshops/courses.

Or do you have a particular skill which you would love to pass on to other people? Please do pop into training and have a chat with us as we are open to delivering a wide range of workshops/courses. You can also email Dee dee.valkering@nmcentre.com

Animation Courseat NMC by Andrew Woodvine

On the Animation course my experience, at first, was I thought it was boring. But as I pressed on, I got to know Chris and what animation entailed, and now I’m enjoying it so much that I’ve started animating at home! So far I’ve achieved 7 out of 10
seconds of my animation - it’s taken a while but I’m pleased with what I’ve done.

I would recommend this class to other people because I felt that I was given freedom to use any program and any technique to complete my work. This is unlike previous courses I’ve done where you’re sometimes limited to what has been set in a brief, or by the tutor. I felt happier choosing how I went about animating. I like doing the course at the NMC because it’s a familiar place as I also attend for physio there and know a few people. That makes it more comfortable as sometimes it can be difficult talking to new people, but as I say the NMC is a familiar place so it makes talking to people easier. I also feel I’ve made friends on the course so that makes going more fun. By the end of this course I hope to gain some knowledge and skills in Photoshop as well as animation and I hope to have maybe gained some friends. All in all I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the course and would do it again.
Do you fancy creating an animation like Andy? Would you like to do a taster session? Please go and see Kay in the training department or drop us an email: dee.valkering@nmcentre.com

Want to kick started your career in Graphic design?

We offer training opportunities in digital graphic design and web design with an option of home study. You could be working towards a national recognized qualification and learn valuable computer skills in Adobe software using the latest up to date Apple Mac equipment. We pride ourselves on offering a very unique, friendly and supportive environment with one-to-one tuition for all our students.

Our main goal is to provide a unique service that is an alternative to a main stream college environment. Students receive full care and one-to-one training in a fully adapted training suite. We encourage students to reach their full potential and they are able to work at their own pace. Learning is very much forced around the individuals needs and requirements. We are proud to offer our students a warm and friendly place to study. All courses are completely free and no previous experience or qualifications are required for any of the courses. Participants should have a general interest in graphic design and design software programs.

Taster sessions for any of the courses are always offered to see whether it really meets your needs and requirements. When you come for assessment we will work with you to identify the appropriate start date, duration, level of study and content which will help you achieve your personal goals. Study At Home The Neuromuscular Centre (NMC) also offers a home study programme. The NMC is looking to recruit graphic design students with muscular dystrophy who have the enthusiasm and motivation to Study at home. We offer NFCE Level 1 & 2 in Graphic Design as a home study option. Our tutors are available for online support three days a week and use the latest software to ensure all home study students are fully supported throughout their course.

What’s Next

Once students gain a national recognized qualification it can lead to many new and exciting opportunities, such as:

• Progressing onto another course to gain an even higher level qualification at the NMC or at college or university.
• Gaining employment in a Graphic Design company.
• Gaining employment in NMC’s own NMC Design+Print  - our very own in house    commercial graphic design and print company.
• Freelance Designing - maybe working from home.

If you would like more information please contact Kay on 01606 860911or e-mail kay.briggs@nmcentre.com