STEP INTO THE METAVERSE

– to give established artists and emerging talent access to the technology. The studio is a “metaverse-first” event space, and can also accommodate a live audience.

Video 3.0 gives fans completely new experiences online. Audiences can attend gigs or sporting events with friends, with the freedom to move among the virtual crowds and get up close to the action. Because performances are live, fans can interact with the artist – a digital step forward from holding a banner at a gig – and artists can respond in real-time, giving shout-outs, answering questions or performing a requested track.

To coincide with the launch of the scholarship, leading Bristol artists Dread MC, Badliana and Lebo, were also invited into Condense’s cutting-edge metaverse environment to perform. Using a state-of-the-art 360-degree camera rig constructed by Condense, the three artists each stepped into a virtual landscape to record their own performance. It is the creation of these virtual landscapes and their live-streaming capabilities which Access Creative College are now offering the chance for students to study.

Jackson Armstrong, Executive Head of Marketing at Access Creative College, said: “What better way to celebrate the launch of this new scholarship programme than by having some of Bristol’s brightest upcoming artists perform in the metaverse, which our scholars will be working to produce.”

Successful scholars will learn how to stream live events into one of the world’s most exciting new technologies: the metaverse. The successful applicants will take part in a 12-week programme, full of rich and intensive study, completely funded through the scholarship.

Jackson continued: “When it comes to board positions within

(L-R) Bristol artists Lebo, Dread MC and Badliana were invited into Condense’s cutting-edge metaverse environment to perform

Condense, which was founded in Bristol in 2009, is the only company in the world with the end-to-end capture and streaming technology to live stream real-world events, like music and sports events, into 3D applications

leading tech companies in the UK, the statistics are deeply concerning with the lack of gender split and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. We’re excited at the prospect of helping to change that through this new scholarship programme.”

Successful applicants will receive college accreditation and certificate; hands-on experience with the latest technologies and techniques; real world industry skills to support the next step in their career; high level of exposure to local employers; a potential career with Condense at the end of the 12 weeks; and a £1500 bursary (dependent on learner performance).

CEO and co-founder of Condense Nick Fellingham explained: “The Bristol scene has long been a world-renowned melting pot of different cultures and music and, in the last few years, it’s become a hub for games development too. Now we’re going to put Bristol on the map once again with the world’s first metaverse live streaming studio to bring together the energy of live events with the massive scale of the metaverse. The Video 3.0 infrastructure we’ve built takes out the technical complexity of streaming live into the metaverse, so people are free to put their creativity in. Video 3.0 is going to change not just how we experience live events online, but fundamentally how we engage with each other.”

Condense harnesses the feelings of connection you get from seeing your favourite band, artist, team or sports star perform live, while introducing an unprecedented level of access, participation and inclusion never before seen – all while providing artists, rights holders and metaverse platforms the opportunity to create completely new revenue streams.

Ziv Reichert, partner at LocalGlobe (recently ranked the UK’s number one seed investor by Dealroom) adds: “Hundreds of millions of people are hanging out in immersive 3D platforms like Roblox, Rec Room, Fortnite, Sandbox, Decentraland and VRChat; attending virtual events, socialising and being creative. At the same time, player demand for live entertainment inside these virtual worlds has never been greater. Condense has built the infrastructure to connect the two – now music artists, sports stars and creatives can perform and play live in the metaverse, to the largest stadium audience imaginable.”

NEWS FROM THE CITY’S SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Local education business Greenhouse Learning is looking forward to delivering catch-up tuition to primary and secondary schools in Bristol under the National Tutoring Programme. Having been approved as a tuition partner, Greenhouse Learning has worked with 10 schools in the South West region, serving nearly 350 students in the last academic year. For the 2022/2023 academic year, the Department for Education has issued new guidelines that if schools are using external providers for catch-up tuition, they should only use quality-assured, approved tuition partners.

Greenhouse Learning is the only local Bristol and South West Englandbased provider to be approved for the National Tutoring Programme, offering both in-school and online lessons for all academic subjects. Parents who feel their child needs additional tutoring support are encouraged by the Department for Education to contact their schools’ leadership as part of their Parent Pledge, which states that: “any child who falls behind in English or maths will get support to help them catch up, and that schools will keep parents updated on their child’s progress.”

• For more information, please contact General Manager, Lucy via telephone: 0117 463 0300; email: lucy@greenhouselearning.co.uk; online at: greenhouselearning.co.uk; or drop in to the team’s office at: 84 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8BN

Following a lengthy and considered consultation process, the Governors of Colston’s School, founded by Edward Colston in 1710, have announced that, from September 2022, the school’s new name will be Collegiate, or Collegiate School, Bristol.

The name was chosen following hundreds of suggestions received from students, parents, staff and former students, with Collegiate being a strong contender due to its previous connection with the school. In 1991, upon merging with the Collegiate School in Winterbourne, the school became Colston’s Collegiate and for the first time was fully co-educational.

Chair of the Board, Nick Baker, explained: “Collegiate not only represents the inclusive nature of the school, but the way in which the different sections of the school and the school community work together. Our Nursery, Junior School, Senior School and Sixth Form all work together for the collective good, so too the school with our parents, former pupils and its wider community.”

The Governing Board is clear that this change must not be interpreted as an attempt to change or deny the school’s history. Nick continued: “We believe it is important that students attending the school continue to be taught about its history; specifically, Edward Colston’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. In order to assist with this, some historical aspects of the school, for example the crest and motto, will be retained and explained, rather than removed.”

The school will formally be known as Collegiate from the start of the autumn term in September, with its first open morning under the new name taking place at the end of September.

• colstons.org

The sound of children splashing in a river and the smell of elderflower fritters cooking on a campfire, while Tamworth pigs forage the woodland floor around you is a just a normal day out for the lucky children who have experienced a Belmont Estate nature-based education session.

Set in their rewilding project ten minutes outside Bristol, Belmont’s nature-based education programme gives children the chance to get muddy hands, wet feet and to cook around a campfire, fully immersing themselves in nature.

Nature connection is at the forefront of Belmont’s ethos encouraging all visitors to reconnect with the natural world. They are building connections with the wider community, local schools and colleges to provide inspirational opportunities for children and young people to get closer to nature, creating truly accessible, free, educational resources for those without the opportunity to get there alone.

Nicola Gliddon, the Outdoor Education Leader at Belmont says: “We’re hoping to kindle connections and a passion that will last a lifetime. The sessions at our woodland base are all about connection and well-being, so we want the children to connect with nature as much as possible and to then reap the benefits for their own well-being. It is really important to us that the programme is free, removing any financial barriers and making it genuinely available to all. We’re extremely passionate about our education programme, and it it’s our attempt to rebuild that missing connection with nature.”

After welcoming 3,000 pairs of wellies to the rewilding project in the past year, they are set to continue inspiring young minds as the new school year begins. Belmont is an estate deeply rooted in the heritage of North Somerset with an exciting vision for the future.