BECOME A PARTNER

Brilliant. Energetic. Inspirational.

Just three of the (admittedly demanding) qualities we are looking for in the partners we want to work with us. All of the people involved in our schools needs first and foremost to have a genuine passion for the performing arts and a desire to share that passion with our students. Partners may come from a performing arts background but have experience of teaching children and young people. Alternatively, you might come from an education background, but have a strong relationship and understanding of performing arts. A strong team leader, you will assemble a team of equally brilliant and inspirational teachers to work with you and us in making your academy both a fun place to be and a huge success.

Ultimately we’re not looking for “head-teacher’ type figures. Although an element of discipline inevitably comes into any work with young people, we prefer an environment where partners, teachers and students have a mutual respect for one another and work together in an understanding, relaxed and fun environment – which we believe is most conducive to work in the performing arts.

It’s important to have some business acumen too, so that with your knowledge of your local area (in terms of the competition, places to advertise, marketing and student catchment) combined with business support from Head Office, we can all work towards making the school a success.

You will also need to oversee your teaching staff – identifying and interviewing possible candidates and providing them with the help and support they need to deliver The Pauline Quirke Academy (PQA) classes. Along with our creative directors, you should be able to provide feedback to teachers along with tips on improving lessons where appropriate.

In short, this is a hands-on role for a passionate and talented individual who is comfortable liaising with staff from head office, teachers, students and parents alike.

Although the actual academy only runs for 3 to 6 hours on weekends (with additional courses during school holidays), the nature of the role will obviously require a level of work during the week. However, it should be possible for the role to be effectively part-time in terms of the necessary commitment, meaning partners can continue with their other projects and work. The rewards however, have the potential to be very high.

Here at PQA we have a very single minded view of not only the way our academies are going to be run and by whom, but also we believe in a transparent business approach.

Legally it may be considered a franchise opportunity but from the way we see it – it’s a partnership. It’s a transparent partnership that splits its income 50-50 as easy and honestly as that.

We want our partners to spend their time being creative, not bean counting, we think time spent invested in preparing for the following week is more industrious than filing a vat return, our partners efforts should be directed into teaching not relentless paperwork - so we do all that!

PQA head office collates and disperses all student fees, deals with all student correspondence, does all the marketing, is forever investing in updating its teaching modules, takes care of merchandising and advertising.

Together we find the right venue, staff and students. Leaving our partners to do what they do best – enthusiastically teach!

Furthermore we don’t limit you to just one academy, in fact we encourage you to run at least two, and we don’t charge you for expansion either.

How the modules work

All the PQA modules will be available to download from the web site. Partners and teachers are free to decide which module to teach and when – depending on what fits in best with your dates and the requirements of your academy. However, we strongly recommend that you start with the indicated introductory modules when the class is completely new.

Modules are of varying lengths and contain differing levels of detail depending on their theme. We want to make best use of the many and plentiful talents of our teachers – so in areas like the Musical Theatre modules we provide general outlines and ideas, whilst leaving specifics up to individual teachers.

Modules are constantly being added and updated, taking in any feedback you send to us. So do check back regularly for new modules – and please do email us your thoughts and suggestions on any aspects of the academy.

The modules are divided into age groups within each discipline. There is also a drama games manual to download which contains suitable games and exercises to play with the students. This can be used across all 3 disciplines, although it is particularly relevant to the Comedy & Drama module.

Our Creative Directors will open your new academy with you. They will
work alongside you and your teachers for the first 2 weeks and will
return on weeks 5 and 10. In addition, the Creative Directors are
always available via email to discuss any feedback you have and answer
any questions on the modules.

Furthermore, you will have a partners support manager who will be on hand almost 24/7 to help and guide you through the setting up and running of your own academy, right through to expansion when you are ready.

This coupled with our creative support team ensure each and every academy achieves to it highest level - fun and education within the performing arts for all.

We run various workshops throughout the year to train teachers for modules which require specialist skills. We will contact schools direct with details of these workshops when they happen.

We are actively looking for the right kind of people – so apply today!

Please click here to contact us