College Face Lift!

The Sixth Form College, Solihull has had a facelift! Both inside and outside the main building of the College (Hampton building) has been totally refurbished and we wanted to share the changes.

Thanks to the efforts of the contractors Stepnell, not to mention the hard work of our own Estates team, a long and very complicated job has been completed. What made this job so complex was that the work had to be completed during term time. We received a grant of more than £1million to renovate the first and second floor classrooms and re-clad the exterior of the building.

The project was completed in three phases, to minimise disruption to teaching and learning as much as possible. This meant that only sections of the building would be shut down, enabling lessons to continue in other parts of the building. Social Sciences, Humanities and Earth Studies were relocated first, moving to other parts of the campus for several months. When that section of the building was done, they were able to move back in and phase two started. This saw many Business, Maths and Social Science lessons relocate temporarily. Phase three refurbished the Modern Foreign Language, Maths and Business rooms, as well as two lectures theatres.

The refurbishment has seen some walls being knocked down to turn some small rooms into larger classrooms. New floors, ceilings, windows and doors, not to mention a new coat of paint and new furniture has added up to bright and modern new teaching facilities.

The external cladding is what is most noticeable about the building work, incorporating the College's green and purple corporate colours, as well as some of the College's secondary palette of colours too. It is bright, vibrant and eye-catching and makes the College look modern and welcoming. The new windows that have been fitted also ensure the College is more energy efficient as well.

The College celebrates it's 40th birthday this year and the refurbishments are particularly stark changes when compared to the original look of the College back in 1974. Back then, there was just one building, whereas now the College boasts eight buildings and state-of-the-art facilities.

Exam Season Comes Early For Drama Students

Most people think that exam season is the summer months. For our A level Drama & theatre Studies students their final assessed practicals have been in the last week!

The students, all in their final year of the course, have split into three groups to devise and act a short drama piece of approximately 30 minutes duration. The students selected a range of themes to base their productions on.

One group entitled their production 'The Chapter of Dido' and it concerned the founder and first Queen of Carthage, based on an extract from 'Aeneid' by the Roman poet Virgil. Here's a photo below from the dress rehearsal of this production.

Another group selected the 2002 film 'The Magdalene Sisters', written and directed by Peter Mullan, about four teenage girls sent to a home for 'fallen' women maintained by individual religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Again, the photo below shows the great costumes and set from this production.

The final production was based on Margaret Atwood's novel 'The Handmaid’s Tale', which explores life in a Dystopian society where children are harvested from lower class fertile women, who are enslaved to supply the ruling classes. As you can see, good use of costume, set and lighting helped bring this to life!

Curriculum Leader for Drama is Diane Dodd and she told us how pleased she has been with the students work. "The students have worked for over a term on the practical devised exam, they have worked tirelessly to bring their material to the stage and have produced some highly effective and moving plays," she explained. "They have researched a wide range of contemporary practitioners who are themselves renowned creative adaptors and have explored a wide range of acting and staging methods. The process is both physically and intellectually stretching and the students are now well-prepared for the next step at university."

Many of the students on the A level Drama & Theatre Studies course are also involved with the annual college production, which takes place in July. Entitled ‘Selkie’, the production is set in Cornwall and interweaves the past with the present, the ordinary with the supernatural, locals and seasonal migrants on one fine day in June. Selkie blends folk lore and contemporary lives and utilises live music, storytelling and dance to amuse and transport you. It will be performed at 7.00pm on Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th July in the College’s theatre. Tickets will be available after Easter, priced £6 for adults and £3 for concessions, by calling 0121 704 2581.