Showcasing your learners’ exam successes to the local community

Have you ever considered how you could engage the wider community and celebrate your students’ achievements? There are several options you could explore but one could be to host a showcase or celebration event to highlight the work your Trinity exam candidates have been doing. Inviting local contacts as guest speakers; such as local teachers, practitioners and representatives from cultural organisations can be a great way to raise the profile of your centre within the local community. In this blog, we highlight the Musical Theatre Showcase Trinity Champion Centre, Bedazzle, held earlier this year and share our ideas for involving the community in your events.

Bedazzle’s showcase

In February, I had the privilege of watching Bedazzle’s Foundation Programme showcase event at Fairycroft House Arts and Media Centre in Saffron Walden, which they put on using funding they had gained as a Trinity Champion Centre. Bedazzle is a community theatre company for those with additional needs based in the East of England. The programme included a series of musical theatre pieces students had prepared for Trinity exams, including solo and pairs performances. I was impressed by the talent of these young, promising performers and it was a great opportunity for them to share the hard work they’d been doing with teachers, parents, carers and members of the community that were invited to the event, such as a rep from The Junction Theatre, an agent, and filmmaker. You can watch snippets of the event below, which was professionally recorded using the funding. The videography is also being used for the young performers’ personal showreels:

A big thank you to Bedazzle’s course coordinator and host of the event, Rhiannon Matchette, who kindly invited me to witness these wonderful performances.

You can check out more on Bedazzle's Instagram page

Ideas for hosting your own community event

• A post-exam celebratory evening: a celebratory event is a great way to showcase the talent and hard work of your candidates, champion candidates supporting and inspiring one another, and share your practice with local teachers/practitioners and organisations. If you’re looking to reach a wider audience, why not invite the local press too!
  
  
• A networking event: we know that peripatetic teaching can feel lonely sometimes if you haven’t got a community of colleagues around you. So why not host a networking event aimed at building relationships and discussing different approaches to music teaching and exam preparation? The event would be a chance for you to share your experience and best practice of delivering Trinity qualifications, as well as building your network with other teachers and organisations. You could even invite a guest speaker, such as a local councillor or a representative from a local arts organisation or charity who are open to collaborations.
  
  
• A centre open day: our Private exam centres come in all shapes and sizes, offering a range of services beyond Trinity exams. So why not hold an open day to showcase all that you offer? You might include workshops that prospective students can come and try, and performances from your existing candidates. You could also invite candidates to share their experiences of preparing for qualifications with others.
  
  
• Work with a local charity or community group: engaging with local organisations can help raise the profile of your centre whilst giving back to the local community and wider society. Trinity Champion Centre, East London School of Music (ELSOM), hosts regular performances for the community every year and gives them the opportunity to participate in various different events. In 2022, ELSOM hosted more than 10 classical concerts including a Mozart Themed Concert (May 2022), a Baroque concert (Aug 2022) and two concerts at St George's in Hanover Square (July and Oct 2022). They also recently held a King Charles III Coronation Community Concert Event at Hackney Town Hall in May 2023, which was supported by the HACS Philharmonic Orchestra. You can see a summary of the event here

Trinity Champion Centres

Trinity Champion Centres inspire existing and potential centres by sharing their practice and advocating for our qualifications in their communities and more widely. In return, we celebrate achievements, profile their successes, and promote their work as part of our support offer to teachers and centres. Champion Centres are recognised by Trinity for their successful delivery of our qualifications.

If you think you have exceptional delivery and could qualify as a Trinity Champion Centre, keep an eye on this page for application details which will be around February 2024 – our Trinity Champion Centres can apply for up to £250 towards putting on a celebratory event linked to their Trinity work!

In the meantime, you can read about our selected Trinity Champion Centres for 2023-2024 in this blog