Hollow Forming with the Hydraulic Press; Stamping with the Fly Press!

Check here to see if there are any spaces left… you may be lucky!

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The next round of courses are set to start in 2 weeks time, and if you live in Southwark why not take advantage of this great opportunity to develop new skills in jewellery making!

The 10 week daytime course for beginners, D04, begin on Thursday 16 September, at 10.15am.

There are still a few places left, and thanks to Southwark Adult Learning Services you may be entitled to a reduced or concessionary rate for the course fee!

To find out if you are eligible, and to book a place click here

We will also be running a weekend jewellery course (sw04) to make a silver ring, so those of you who cannot attend the weekday option can still get to have some fun! The dates are Nov 6 and 7.

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And while I’m on it… here is another bit of misinformation from  Hotcourses   (yes, it’s another  £££  course advertising site)

“Hotcourses.com aims to be the most accurate, up-to-date and user-friendly course site. We do not restrict ourselves to one particular sector of education, so you can find undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, leisure courses and professional development courses all on the same site. Because we do not charge people to list their courses, we have a large selection of colleges and course providers. Providers can sign up online and update or amend their information at any time, ensuring that their listings remain accurate.”

This statement absolutely does not reflect the way in which Hotcourses now operates! This is a fee paying, advertising site which provides limited information about courses, classes and workshops available to the general public.

Hotcourses assures us that they are looking at updating their website details to reflect their change  from partial government funding to entirely commercial status. We’re wondering how many staff  it takes for their  light bulbs to get changed!  As this is a potentially damaging piece of misinformation we feel it really ought to get first priority so that it reflects the true nature of this pay – per – listing site.

Actually,  Flux Studios is still currently listed on this site (due for imminent take-down – are we betting which part of the site gets changed first??) as a hang-over from the last year

.. but here’s a gem worth sharing to demonstrate something of their ‘accuracy’

If you type in a search for jewellery courses at SE5 8QT (and there’s only 1 jewellery studio at that address folks!) you will be taken on 15 journeys to places ranging from 2 miles away to 6 miles away, before finally you are directed to Flux Studios, precisely 0.0 miles from this postcode! Since we offer top rated jewellery courses in South London we don’t think you should have to go through this hassle to find us.

Once again, … we think this is an active dis-service for everyone living in Southwark who is entitled to a discounted place on a course here at Flux Studios. Hot Courses is directing local residents to colleges out of borough, in all cases providing more expensive classes. Wasted time, wasted money, wasted fuel.

Sorry, this is just big bully-boy-monkey-nuts!

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We have a little gripe with Floodlight……

Once upon a time floodlight provided impartial and comprehensive listings for all courses (and course providers) in London.

“Floodlight has been helping Londoners to find courses since 1936.”

You would be forgiven, from their google listings, and indeed from the ‘about’ page on their site, that this was still the case:

“lists of ALL/ Jewellery courses/ training classes & lessons in Regional London”

“It is London’s official guide to courses, having been set up by the Boroughs to promote learning options available to adult Londoners”

Furthermore you will find banners declaring that through their site you can

“Find the best Regional London Jewellery course training & lesson from the list”.

But this, dear readers is not true, as you will notice that the highly regarded Flux Studios jewellery classes and courses are nowhere to be found on this site!

“Why??” I hear you cry! Well here is the hard hitting truth…

A listing in Floodlight is not for free! And so the information it provides is not impartial!

In spite of the fact that this year we have again been selected by Southwark Adult Learning services to provide courses to local residents as part of their outreach programme, in spite of the fact that in the last academic year we provided 87 assisted places to local residents (adults and children) through this programme to bring quality experiences to the community, in spite of the fact that through our open access courses we have facilitated an additional 100 or so students to explore their hidden depths, In spite of our reputation for providing 100%  very satisfied customers with many student choosing to return for more, we are not worthy of a listing in Floodlight, because we refuse to pay the crazy £££ rates to advertise with Floodlight and its sister organisation Hotcourses. Because we want to keep our course fees as low as possible, to pass on this benefit to you.

Fantastic, great value, affordable, fun, informative, productive – these are the qualities of experience you associate with us.

Unlike Floodlight, our core aim is for INCLUSION. Limited funds should not in itself limit one’s opportunities for development.

One has to wonder what precisely their purpose is (other than to unfairly ‘tax’ the educators and the students) when the information they ‘present’ is already provided for free online and readily available  via your average search engine!

In particular, we think this is an active dis-service for everyone living in Southwark who is entitled to a discounted place on a course here at Flux Studios. Hot Courses is directing local residents to colleges out of borough, in all cases providing more expensive classes. Wasted time, wasted money, wasted fuel.

We worry that these bully-boy tactics will put the small independent and community based colleges out of business by squeezing us out of the bigger picture through ugly marketing ploys. We find it deeply disturbing that the original free spirit of the internet is so quickly disappearing because of activities like these.

When we pointed out that the advert Floodlight is giving false information  the response was that it is a “commercial”  enterprise and it was our decision as to whether it was worth ADVERTISING with them. Hmph!

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We love what Glamour Magazine has to say about our very lovely Bernice Kelly, aka Macha Jewellery…..

“12 exceptional women. 12 covetable careers. 12 secrets to their success revealed. Transform your dreams into a reality – from making it as a rock star to a jewellery designer and more…”

‘…my top tip for people who want to get into jewellery design is to find the right mentors! I’m currently a member of Flux Studios in London. As well as being a jewellery school, it’s a great place for sharing knowledge.’ Read more of what Bernice has to say here…..

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Just been reviewing some of the feedback we’ve received from our jewellery students over the last year… clearly we’re doing something right! Here’s a sample:

“I really enjoyed the 2 days spent at Flux studios,  it was a new experience, and now I would love to do more workshops along these lines. I enjoyed the diversity of the group and how we all worked well together sharing ideas – it was as much a pleasure to see what other achieved as well as my own work”  SR

“As with the last course here, this one was excellent. I very much enjoyed stone setting, I learned so many things. I am very glad I continued. The weeks seemed to fly by. I would definitely recommend it to others” AC

“Clear teaching, flexible learning progression, good learning environment. The studio is beautifully equipped and very professional. Vicky has a lovely manner and is thorough when teaching. She is very patient with beginners. The open event (Open Studios Exhibition) was very inspirational” EF

“The pace was absolutely right for what I needed so for me it was the perfect course” PR

“I have been given a lot of autonomy to develop my own work and to learn new skills” CH

On our Teaching:

“(the tutor) has been brilliant, very patient and happy to help”
“great explanations, perfect pace”
“amazing, clear, concise”

“Brilliant and friendly”
“Wonderful”
“Clear, concise, fun”
“Informative, knowledgeable, small group”

On the quality of information:

“Perfectly aimed at children”
“Learnt a new technique in a considered way”
“Can’t believe how much I’ve learnt in 2 days”
“V good and the tutor catered for all different levels in the group”
“Learnt a lot about the basics of working with silver”
“Professional, friendly teaching.”

On our facilities:

“a lovely environment to work in”
“excellent”
“a great workshop”
“cosy, everything we needed”
“excellent, safe and easy to use”

On the fun factor:

“It was lovely to work together” family workshop
“Lovely to do with son” family workshop
“It has been good working with my son and others” family workshop
“Great way to spend a weekend”
“Great weekend, thank you”
“Lots of fun, lovely group of people”
“What a great 2 days”

“I rilly liked it very much I wode like to do it agane” family workshop
“Fantastic fun and informative! Thank you”

On personal achievements:

“We love our pieces of jewellery”
“Extremely pleased”
“Learnt loads. Made our wedding rings-which were perfect. Thankyou”
“I got a real finished product I am proud of – definitely recommended for anyone”
“Am super happy with what I achieved this weekend”
“Very pleased, I did not know that I could learn so much”

If any of this is tempting you to share in the delights of jewellery making at Flux  please check here to see our hot courses for the next term.

I’m very delighted to announce that Southwark Adult Learning Services  (SALS) have again asked us to provide courses here for local residents, as part of their community outreach programme. In the last year we provided 87 assisted places on courses through this scheme (that was for 73 unique learners).

Although slightly affected by cutbacks, we none the less aim to make similar provision for Southwark residents this year – we like to support our community – and if you would like to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity have a look at the Autumn programme for 10 week, weekend  and family workshops and courses check here

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