Latest News Update | 22/05/26

This week Year 10 students visited the backstage area of The Old Vic and took part in a sound workshop based on the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. They were split into four groups, with each group exploring a different aspect of the play, such as character, plot and themes. One member from each group read the narrative aloud to the rest of the group. Students then highlighted three pieces of text that stood out to them, such as “concrete heartbeat”.

The next stage of the workshop focused on how sound can be used to create atmosphere, emotion and meaning within a performance through soundscaping. Students experimented with different vocal and physical sounds linked to a word from the facilities, such as “seaside” or “theme park”, creating ensemble soundscapes to represent mood, tension and atmosphere. They layered sounds together to build immersive environments and reflect different emotions and experiences. This helped students understand how sound design and soundscaping can communicate ideas and support storytelling in theatre without relying solely on dialogue.

After this the students were introduced to live Foley. Foley is the process of creating and performing live sound effects to match action, movement or atmosphere within a performance. Students used everyday objects, body percussion and their voices to recreate sounds linked to the play, experimenting with timing, rhythm and texture. They were encouraged to use whatever they could find in the room to create sounds, including coffee cups, mats and windows. Some groups even experimented with recording sounds in the bathroom to create a particular echoing effect. This gave students a practical understanding of how Foley can enhance realism, mood and audience engagement in theatre and film.

The workshop concluded with each group pitching their ideas, explaining why they had developed their chosen sounds, where the sounds would fit within the scene and how they had created them. Every member of the group had to contribute to the presentation. Students were also challenged to include both a live microphone sound effect and recorded sounds captured on the iPads each group had been given using digital recording technology. We were extremely proud of the students, as every single student contributed confidently and creatively throughout the workshop.

Thank you to Mr Seal and Miss McMullin who were a great help on the trip, and we really appreciate their support.

Ready to help our readers travel the world from our library? 

We are officially launching our exciting ‘Read Around the World’ Challenge! We need your help to build a vibrant, multilingual book collection for our students. Every language welcome to help build our diverse collection.

Here is how you can support our growing library:

• Share your home language: Donate age-appropriate books from home written in foreign languages.
• Pack a bookish souvenir: Buying a children’s book while travelling abroad makes a perfect gift for our shelves.

Check out our main poster for all the challenge details. Thank you for helping us bring the world to our school library!

Year 10 students visited The Old Vic this week to watch a performance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This was the third theatre trip students studying the BTEC Tech Award in Performing Arts have attended this year, continuing to develop their understanding of professional performance and production skills through live theatre experiences.

Students were particularly engaged by the powerful performance itself, which included many dramatic twists that shocked the audience and kept them fully invested throughout the production. The performance was staged in the round, meaning the audience surrounded the acting space on all sides. This created an intense and immersive atmosphere, making the audience feel closely connected to the action and emotions of the characters. The use of lighting, sound and staging helped bring the world of the play to life, while the ensemble work effectively showed relationships, conflict and emotion between the characters.

The trip also linked to the backstage sound design workshop students had taken part in the day before. During the workshop, students explored soundscaping and live Foley techniques, helping them better understand how sound can create atmosphere, tension and emotion within performance. Watching the production afterwards allowed students to recognise these techniques being used within a professional theatre setting.

The performance ended with a standing ovation from the audience, showing the impact the production had on everyone watching. It was a fantastic experience for our students and an invaluable opportunity to experience professional theatre-making first hand. We were extremely proud of the maturity, creativity and enthusiasm shown by all Year 10 students throughout the visit.

Thank you to Ms Mann and Mr Powders for their support with the visit. 

Mrs Forbes-Bareham – Coordinator of Learning Visual and Performing Arts