It’s funny how we use the calendar to motivate us.  You may already be planning your own new year resolutions, or reflecting on how far you’ve come this year.

2022 was a great year for the School of Communication Arts and for its alumni;

January
Agreement from the Institute for Apprenticeships to work together in developing Creative Apprenticeship at university degree level.

Joel Buckley wins funding on Dragons’ Den for Eco Union.

February
SCA launches Boot Camp, a six half-day course for professionals.
We will be welcoming our third cohort in early 2023.

Matt Kennedy wins funding on Dragons’ Den for Fussy.

May
SCA hands over the reins to Mark Denton to run the School for a week.
He will be back in early 2023.

June
Christine Smith wins the Grand Prix, Gold and Silver at Cannes.

Phil Gull wins Gold at Cannes.

July
Holly and Sam become the first team to win every colour pencil at D&AD,
helping SCA win the Black Pencil for the fifth year in a row.

August
I attended my third SCA wedding.  Congratulations Mary & Kenny.  Well done
Henry for flying back from Chicago to join in the celebrations for old classmates.

September
SCA won a record 12 places at CREAM, cementing its place as the world’s
top ad school for the tenth year in a row.

October
SCA welcomes its fifteenth cohort, with fourteen of the students receiving
financial support thanks to our wonderful partners.

November
SCA announces incredible new partners, growing our list of supporters to 33.

December
The best Christmas ads this year were National Lottery (Jay and Forrest) and
John Lewis (Ed and Xander).

I probably missed loads of other highlights, because this year has flashed by like a blur.

I would like to take a moment to doff my cap to alumni who are climbing their career ladders, reaching CD and ECD levels, whilst paying back through mentoring and nurturing the next generation of talent.

One of the things that I am proudest of is seeing our alumni helping each other, and current students.  We win more when we help each other win.

Special mention must go to Tom Fenwick-Smith for helping to bring Three on board as a partner.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so much, helping us make 2022 a great year for the School. 

Thank you Shannon for joining our team in the office, working with Max, Marcia and Louise to keep the engine running smooth.

Thank you to our world class faculty, Rob, Mike, Caroline, Alexandra, Rosie, Richard, Mr Cee, Deanna, Rebecca, Ian, Thiago, Pete, Uri, Alan, Gary, Toufic.    

We’ve got huge plans for 2023.   

My top three goals are;

Learning & Development We have been writing and developing learning content for agencies and their clients.   These will be exclusively delivered through our partners in 2023 and I hope that they will be as transformative as the SCA Portfolio School course.

Apprenticeships We will launch the Level 6 Creative Apprenticeship in 2023, further widening the pipeline of talent feeding into our industry.

Online Learning We need to reach more people with our Online Portfolio School in 2023, because it is another way of widening the pipeline of talent. We’ve designed it so that parents, carers and people in full-time employment can learn with us, wherever they are in the world. 

I recognise that none of these goals are possible without your support and encouragement.   Thank you for giving so much of it in 2022.

Marc

Follow SCA Dean, Marc Lewis on Twitter @SCA2Dean