THE BET AWARDS 2023

ROAD BY JIM CARTWRIGHT AT BOHUNT SIXTH FORM

Deborah Lampard, Head of Drama, Bohunt Sixth Form:

It is thankfully now three years since we heard ‘public venues such as theatres should no longer be visited.” For a nation of theatre goers, the lights are definitely back on the stage and here at Bohunt Sixth Form, we found ourselves with a new intake of students raring to tread the boards - this time in our new space, The Hatfield Theatre. No light entertainment here though; instead, the dark, gritty and politically all too relevant 1980s play Road, by Jim Cartwright. A play that moves, that shouts, that softens and despairs. A play that challenged our students to consider a community scarred by unemployment and how to live with, or without, hope.

I hoped students would sign up. I hoped students would understand why we believe this play is important, how it would entice an audience and what we felt it could mean to them for years to come. Such hopes were met when a strong cast of students came forward in October 2022, with a student-led Stage Management and Front of House team formed to aid their endeavours. A team that worked tirelessly and professionally to support with props and costume design, marketing and ticket management and to coordinate our sublimely talented Year 12 Sixth Form band, who performed live 80s classics in the interval to a delighted audience.

On arrival at The Hatfield Theatre, audiences were met by the vivacious yet untrustworthy narrator Scullery, who led them down Road and back again to meet all who inhabit it. From the young to the old, to the cheerful, ‘I’m DJ Bisto… you’ll get used to me, you’d better’, to those who’d lost their dreams that never started, ‘I feel like England’s forcing the brain out me head.’ Student performances were compelling, bold and brave, from seasoned performers and those who had last acted in Year 8.

Students worked admirably, in just four months, to stage this courageous play to a sell out audience of friends, families and a wealth of returning students, who are ingrained in our Expressive Arts community. Which is exactly what this production allowed for more of; a new community of students to develop, an old community to come back together and community on stage to encourage us, their audience, to consider the very idea of hope in our present day communities. I, for one, was left hopeful that this community of intelligent, articulate and daring students will guide their way forward with more hope than the inhabitants of Road were ever given the opportunity to do.

Ella, Year 12 Drama A-Level Student:

To begin my Sixth Form experience I took part in the production of Road. A gritty, moving and political play written by Jim Cartwright, set in a deprived working class community in Lancashire, 1986. I joined the cast with a desire to contribute and indulge in the opportunity to act and learn more about my passion for theatre and what it can communicate. Not only did this experience completely inspire me, but I was also immediately part of a community where I felt able to thrive as both a person and actor. Rehearsals were a buzzing, joyful atmosphere, despite the content of the play - which somehow motivated everyone to invest their everything. I performed the role of ‘Carol’, a teenager living within this struggling community.

I found this play to elaborate on the kaleidoscope of topics which we explore in Drama A Level, including History, Politics, Psychology and Literature. Cementing for me that theatre is an innovative and evolving tool to reflect society, with the ability to entertain, yet influence and educate. Road has contributed to my ability of making the most out of every opportunity and embracing the challenges thrown at me both in Sixth Form and life after.

Priory Community Week

In the first week back after February half term Priory School enjoyed its first ever ‘Community Week’. Activities throughout the week were designed to cultivate a strong sense of community both within our school and out in the local community. Another focus of the week was kindness and how we can make the most of opportunities to be kind every day, even in very small ways. There were inter-house competitions run throughout the week to encourage a sense of house community as well as a range of other opportunities to develop our culture of kindness and community.

Students from Yr 9 & 11 visited Sydenham Court care home to provide musical entertainment, run crafting activities, play board games, and darts with the residents. In Food lessons the previous day students had baked trays of brownies to deliver and share with the residents as well. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and the residents said how lovely it was for the students to visit and spend time with them. The students showed immense maturity and compassion for the residents, really taking the time to talk to them and brighten their day. All of the students who went have asked to make it a regular activity.

A beach clean on Southsea beach was arranged for after school on Thursday, it was very well attended by students, along with staff and parents who volunteered their time to meet at the beach on what was a very cold afternoon. The activity resulted in 40 bags of rubbish being collected and disposed of properly. It was a really wonderful thing to do in support of our local community’s enjoyment of the seafront.

Yr 8 students paid a visit to our local Food bank, St Margarets, which we have supported for a number of years with donations and fundraising. Lauren Broughton (Food Pantry Coordinator) spoke to them about why there is a need for a pantry and how St Mag’s has moved forward to help and support our community with post lockdown food bank services. Students helped sort donated food items into the correct life span and pricing section. As a team, they worked incredibly hard sorting and stacking each food item. After that, Lauren talked about why a pantry is so valuable to our community. In just that week alone the pantry had serviced 100 local families. We raised just over £650 across the week and have since been to the Food bank to drop off a very large amount of food and essentials.

Throughout the week students earned kindness tokens for doing random acts of kindness. Each time a member of staff witnessed kindness by our students they were given a token to redeem at the ‘kindness corner’ treat stand. Across the week over 2000 tokens were given out, which demonstrates the amazing level of kindness within our school community.

PSCRE lessons throughout the week all began with a kindness ‘Do-Now’ activity. Students completed postcards outlining a time that someone had been kind to them or when they had witnessed kindness, how this made them feel and encouraged them to be kind in return. These will shortly be made into colourful bunting to decorate corridors in the school.

The week had so many ‘Proud to be Priory’ moments and it has been so wonderful to see so many of our students enthusiastically take on the challenges and activities of our first ever ‘Community Week’. From spreading joy in a local care home to beach cleaning, Priory staff made this first ever ‘Community Week’ a wonderful opportunity for students to engage with game-changing activities, and the students have stepped up to the challenge at every opportunity.

MEET EX-PRIORY STUDENT AND MP STEPHEN MORGAN

Earlier this year, three GCSE Citizenship students were invited to represent Citizenship students at Priory School at a roundtable meeting with Stephen Morgan MP Shadow Minister for Schools. Stephen is of course an ex-student of Priory School and our local MP.

The meeting had been organised by the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT), the subject association for Citizenship education. The purpose of the meeting was for Stephen to be able to talk directly with students, teachers and Headteachers from across the country about Citizenship and to learn more about what is being studied, the subject in general and why students think it is such an important subject.

Nadir, Anaya and Mia, all Year 10 GCSE Citizenship students, were selected to take part in the round table meeting, and were accompanied by Mr Vaughan. They chose to talk about their current work on rights and responsibilities and the age of criminal responsibility and also discussed lowering the voting age. The meeting was held on Zoom, where they were joined by Citizenship students from across the country, Stephen Morgan MP and Liz Moorse the CEO of ACT.

“To start with, Stephen did a little introduction and then we were given the stage. The three of us told him what we have been covering in Citizenship recently - Rights & Responsibilities, the court system, roles of the and more, and why we thought all of this was important. We were then given the opportunity to ask questions so we started by asking his views on the age of criminal responsibility and whether it should be raised as this is something we have discussed in class. He linked it to the voting age and the work he has been doing to lower that to 16. Next, we asked him what he thought about the idea of compulsory maths until the age of 18, since he is Shadow Education Minister. He stated that he knows there are not enough teachers for that and that not everyone enjoys maths.

We were then able to listen to the questions from other schools and the responses from Stephen Morgan which was very interesting.

We touched on a range of other topics relevant to our Citizenship studies and the major issues in today’s society. It was a good opportunity to improve our skills, understand issues from other perspectives and the impact these will have on future generations.”

By Yr 10 students Anaya, Mia & Nadir, & Helen Blachford.

Steyning Grammar sixth formers and staff travelled to Poland during half term, where they made an “emotional and thought provoking” visit to Auschwitz.

On the first day of the A Level Humanities trip, the group of around 50 students took a guided tour of Krakow, seeing the Mediaeval old town and the Jewish quarter of the city, where they learned about the ghettos Jews were forced to live in after the Nazi invasion.

Later on they spent the afternoon at the Schindler museum, where local businessman Oskar Schindler helped save the lives of many Jews during the Second World War. His life was later captured in Steven Spielberg’s film, Schindler’s list.

The second day of the trip saw the group visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, the site of the largest concentration camp in occupied Europe during the Second World War.

History teacher Jack Fleming, who accompanied the students, said: “The experience was incredibly overwhelming for staff and students alike, as we saw first hand the place where over a million people were exterminated by the Nazis.

“All of us came away with an extra appreciation of the true horror of the Holocaust and many students revealed how emotional it had made them.”

Year 13 student Harry, who went on the trip, said: “I would say that the trip to Poland was on the whole an amazingly culturally enriching trip to a quite beautiful country.

“Visiting the Auschwitz camp itself is an incredibly emotive and moving experience and is somewhere I would recommend people go to so they can be educated on the horrors that occurred there. It is a sombre experience but an incredible opportunity to visit a place like this.”

Mr Fleming added: “Hopefully the trip will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We returned home glad to have gone and seen with our own eyes the scale of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, and a resolve not to let those crimes ever be forgotten.”