The Give Get Go Philosophy and How It Prepares Students for the Modern Workplace
Written by Helen Kenworthy, Artistic Director
Helen champions the arts as a tool for change. Now, as CEO of RYTC Creatives Community Interest Company (CIC) and Give Get Go Education, she mentors young people, creates pathways for them to thrive in the arts, and helps launch successful careers.
Most education still trains students for a workplace that no longer exists. Subjects are taught in isolation, success is measured by recall, and the connection between what happens in a classroom and what happens in a career is left for students to work out for themselves, if they work it out at all. Give Get Go Education was built to close that gap. Founded by Tony Klinger, a writer, filmmaker, educator and coach, alongside cofounder Helen Kenworthy, GGGE brings together publishing, film, documentaries and education under one roof, based on the belief that students learn best when academic content sits inside real creative and professional experience rather than beside it.
This is not a philosophy borrowed from a textbook. It comes directly from Klinger's own career, spanning academia, business leadership and filmmaking on productions including The Avengers, Gold and The Kids Are Alright, and from Kenworthy's decades of building alternative provision through The RYTC and Education Selection Box. Between them, GGGE's founders have lived the integration they now teach.
The result is a platform where a student is not simply told that skills like communication, collaboration and critical thinking matter for their future. They practise those skills inside genuine publishing, film and creative projects, so the connection to a dynamic, constantly changing workplace is felt rather than explained.
A student who leaves Give Get Go Education (GGGE) having only studied a subject has missed the point of the platform entirely. The measure of success is whether they leave with a script drafted, a piece published or a pitch delivered, something they can point to as real evidence of what they can do.
Why subjects taught in isolation fall short
Traditional education tends to separate learning into discrete boxes: a maths lesson here, an English lesson there, each assessed on its own terms. For students preparing to enter a workplace that rarely respects those boundaries, this separation can leave a significant gap between what they have studied and what they are actually able to do.
Employers do not hire subjects. They hire people who can communicate, collaborate, solve problems and adapt – skills that are hard to build when learning stays confined to isolated content delivered without any wider creative or professional context.
This gap tends to widen the longer it goes unaddressed. A student who has spent years learning subjects in isolation often needs to unlearn that separation before they can start applying knowledge in a genuinely integrated way, which is far harder to do for the first time at eighteen than at twelve.
What integration actually looks like at GGGE
At Give Get Go Education, integration means a student's academic work is genuinely connected to publishing, film or documentary projects, not simply referenced as an example. A history topic might feed directly into a documentary script, a piece of creative writing might be developed towards actual publication, and presentation skills might be built specifically for a pitch a student will really deliver.
This mirrors GGGE's own founding philosophy that educators should help every student learn how to learn by inspiring creativity, encouraging collaboration and teaching students not only how to communicate but also the power of effective communication. Purposeful integration of academic content with real experience is what turns that philosophy into something students actually feel.
This kind of integration also changes how mistakes are treated. A wrong answer on a worksheet has little consequence beyond a mark, but a weak scene in a script or an unclear paragraph in a piece heading towards publication has a visible, felt impact, which tends to sharpen a student's attention far more effectively than correction alone.
Learning through doing, not just through instruction
One of the clearest threads running through GGGE's approach is learning through doing. Rather than being told how the publishing or film industries work, students are placed inside real projects, drafting, producing, presenting and revising in ways that mirror the actual professional process.
This does not replace academic rigour, it sits alongside it. A student still needs to understand their subject, but they also learn what it feels like to apply that understanding under real conditions, including deadlines and audiences, that they will encounter again later in their working lives.
Signs a student would benefit from integrated learning
Some young people show clearly that content delivered in isolation, without any connection to real creative or professional experience, is not landing. Educators and practitioners may notice patterns such as:
Strong academic knowledge that does not translate into confident, practical application.
Frequently asking when they will actually use what they are learning.
More engagement in project work or creative tasks than in traditional lessons.
Difficulty seeing how one subject connects to another or to a future career.
Motivation that rises sharply when work has a real audience or outcome.
Frustration with theoretical tasks that never lead to a tangible result.
These patterns usually reflect a mismatch between how content is delivered and how a young person actually engages with learning, not a lack of ability or ambition.
Key aspects of the Give Get Go philosophy
GGGE's approach to twenty-first-century learning rests on a consistent set of principles:
Personalised learning: Recognising that not all students learn in the same way.
Equity, diversity and inclusivity: Built into how courses and projects are designed.
Learning through doing: Placing students inside real publishing, film and creative work.
Communication: Teaching students to share thoughts, ideas, questions and solutions in powerful ways.
Rethinking learner and teacher roles: Moving from instruction towards genuine collaboration.
Community relationships: Connecting learning to the people and industries around it.
Technology: Used purposefully to support and extend what students can create and achieve.
Together, these aspects form the foundation GGGE was built on, rather than a list of values added on afterward.
Why this matters for career growth
A student who has only ever learned inside isolated academic boxes can arrive at their first job, placement or interview without ever having practised the skills that the workplace actually demands. Integration closes that gap while the stakes are still low enough to experiment, fail and improve.
By combining publishing, film and education, Give Get Go Education gives students genuine exposure to creative industries alongside academic development, building both a portfolio of real experience and the transferable skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking and adaptability that employers consistently say they struggle to find in new entrants to the workforce.
What about students who prefer a more traditional structure?
Not every student will immediately embrace integrated learning through projects. Some feel more secure with clear instructions and a predictable structure and may find creative projects without a fixed structure unsettling at first.
This is not a reason to abandon integration, only a reason to introduce it gradually. Structure and integration are not opposites; clear expectations and genuine creative ownership can exist together, and most students grow into the shift once they experience a project through to a real, tangible result.
Integration as a long-term investment
The benefits of integrated learning are not always visible immediately. A student's first script, article or pitch is rarely their best work, and progress can look slow when measured project by project rather than skill by skill.
The real return shows up over time, as students carry their growing portfolio, their communication skills and their comfort with real deadlines and real audiences into further study, apprenticeships or their first roles. GGGE is designed around that longer horizon, treating each project as one step in an ongoing body of work rather than a standalone task to complete and forget.
How founders shape the culture of GGGE
A philosophy tends to hold together far more consistently when it is lived rather than simply written down. Tony Klinger did not arrive at storytelling and integration as an educational theory; he arrived at it through decades of writing, producing and directing, learning firsthand what makes an audience genuinely engage and what leaves them cold.
Helen Kenworthy brings a matching depth of lived experience, having spent years building alternative provision through The RYTC and Education Selection Box, working directly with young people who had not been well served by conventional education. Together, their backgrounds mean GGGE's philosophy is not a marketing position; it is a genuine reflection of how its founders have always approached creative and educational work.
Integration across every stage of a project
Integration at GGGE is not limited to a single moment, such as a final showcase or a finished publication. It runs through every stage of a project, from the earliest research and planning, through drafting and production, to feedback, revision and eventual delivery to a real audience.
At each stage, academic and creative skills are reinforced together rather than separately. Research for a documentary draws on the same critical thinking used in an academic essay, structuring a script draws on the same organisational skills used in exam preparation, and presenting a finished piece draws on the same communication skills taught explicitly across GGGE's wider approach. Nothing is left to develop in isolation because nothing at GGGE is taught in isolation.
11 ways the Give Get Go philosophy prepares students for a dynamic workplace
Bringing publishing, film and education together is a deliberate design choice, not a loose collection of activities. The eleven approaches below show how that integration translates into genuine workplace readiness.
Connect academic content to real creative projects: Isolated facts rarely transfer into practical skill. We link academic content directly to publishing and film projects, so students apply what they learn rather than simply recalling it.
Build genuine portfolios, not just grades: A grade tells an employer very little about what a student can actually do. We help students build a portfolio of work that has been published, filmed or produced and demonstrates their capabilities directly.
Teach communication as a practical, powerful skill: Sharing thoughts and ideas well is central to every industry. We coach students to communicate with real influence, not just correctness, across writing, presenting and pitching.
Give students a genuine audience: Work created only for a teacher rarely reaches its full potential. We create opportunities for students' work to reach a real audience, raising both the stakes and the sense of purpose.
Rethink the teacher's role as guide, not gatekeeper: Integration works best when educators collaborate rather than simply instruct. We position mentors as guides who work alongside students on real projects, not just as assessors of finished work.
Use technology purposefully, not for its own sake: Technology should extend what a student can create, not distract from it. We introduce tools deliberately, tied to specific publishing, film or communication tasks students are actually working on.
Build community relationships into learning: Isolated learning misses the relationships that shape real careers. We connect students to the wider creative community around GGGE, giving them context for how industries and professional relationships actually work.
Personalise the route through each project: Not every student thrives on the same path through a project. We build in flexibility so students can lean into writing, filming, presenting or producing according to their own strengths.
Treat failure as part of the creative process: Publishing and film both involve drafts, cuts and rewrites. We normalise revision and failure as a genuine part of the process, rather than something to be avoided or hidden.
Prioritise equity, diversity and inclusivity in every project: A dynamic workplace reflects a wide range of voices and backgrounds. We design courses and projects so every student sees themselves represented and genuinely included in the creative process.
Prepare students for a workplace that keeps changing: The workplace students are heading into will keep evolving long after they leave education. We focus on adaptability, critical thinking and collaboration, skills that remain valuable no matter how the specific industry landscape shifts.
Conclusion
The Give Get Go philosophy is not simply about offering film and publishing alongside academic subjects. It is a deliberate integration, built by founders who have lived the creative and educational worlds they now bring together, designed to prepare students for a workplace that rewards adaptability as much as knowledge.
By combining publishing, film and education, Give Get Go Education gives students both the academic grounding and the practical, real-world experience they need to thrive in a dynamic and constantly changing world of work.
To explore more about the Give Get Go philosophy, visit here.
Read more from Helen Kenworthy
Helen Kenworthy, Artistic Director
Helen Kenworthy’s career embodies the transformative power of the arts, from her early roles in the prestigious West End with Bill Kenwright to her impactful work in regional theatre. As manager of the Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership, she created pathways for young people to thrive in the arts, with many going on to successful careers. Now at RYTC Creatives CIC and Give Get Go Education, Helen continues to inspire and mentor the next generation of theatre-makers and community leaders, offering invaluable opportunities for growth and professional development.
