Varndean School organises a first ever Surrenden Campus Youth Arts Conference

On Friday 1 October, a campus-wide youth arts event took place, joining up the efforts and expertise of Varndean and Dorothy Stringer Schools, Balfour Infants School and Varndean College, thus including students aged from  4 to 18. It is the brainchild of Varndean School’s Head of Performing Arts, Robbie Mitchell.

The event also benefited from outside input: a violin masterclass at Dorothy Stringer School given by Nick Wood, former leader of the Liverpool Philharmic Orchestra and a workshop by the drumming maestros of Brighton ensemble, Red Zebra, at Downs Link College.

Varndean College presented an arts collaboration from last summer between music, dance and media called Breaking Boundaries.  It featured choreography by Year 2 dance students, music from the college’s experimental orchestra and filmed back-projections by media and creative arts diploma students.

Varndean College’s Music Coordinator, Thom Gilbert said: “With so many schools and colleges in such a small space, the aim of the day is to discover what happens on our own doorstep and to see if we can share expertise to create projects that not only work across disciplines but across age ranges as well.”

Pete Davison, Dorothy Stringer’s head of music said: “It’s nice to see both Varndean and Stringer schools come together as one to present their ideas and projects so that they can work together in future.”