Studio school is just the job

City College bosses aim to open a school for 14 to 19 year olds with a focus on creative & digital media skills & jobs. Frank le Duc reports

City College Brighton and Hove principal Lynn Thackway wants to open the first studio school in the area. And she has been sharing her plans for the new school with people from the worlds of business, education and politics locally and beyond. The school, to be known as The Hive, will cater for up to 300 students from 14 to 19 years old and specialise in creative and digital media.

Studio schools owe something to the idea of an artist’s or sculptor’s studio rather than a radio or TV studio as some might assume. They are intended to close the gap between the skills and knowledge young people need to succeed at work and the skills and knowledge that some currently have when they leave school.

But television studios are likely to be part of the mix. City College is working with Latest TV as it develops the project. And the proposed school’s backers include the BBC, Channel 4 and Reuters. Other supporters include Wired Sussex, Brighton University and Sussex University.

Mrs Thackway said that studio schools were a new type of school which were more vocational than traditional schools. They were intended to encourage enterprise too, she said, although they retained a strong focus on core academic skills. They operate from 9am to 5pm and focus on teaching through real work and business projects.

Mrs Thackway set up the first national pilot studio school in 2007 when she worked at the Barnfield Federation in Luton. Barnfield Studio School opened full-time in 2010 and is now known as the Barnfield Skills Academy. She said: “It might not be right for every pupil but there are many benefits. It’s dynamic. It’s creative. It’s work-related but it still covers the core curriculum. A studio school would offer diversity that isn’t available in the city already.

“We’ve got a vibrant digital media sector here. We will be encouraging employers to get our students involved in their businesses rather than us giving them fictitious projects. Brighton just seemed to have the right climate for a studio school. There’s a shortage of school places. It’s affecting primary schools now but it will affect secondary schools within a few years.

“In Brighton we’ve got a critical mass of people who are open to new ideas”

“We’ve got children who are underachieveing for a number of reasons. This sort of school offers a different way of learning that’s been successful elsewhere and suits this sort of city. In Brighton we’ve got a critical mass of people who are open to new ideas.”

If ministers approve the proposal, the new school could open its doors in September 2015. Mrs Thackway is keen to use a building in the centre of Brighton, ideally one which is underused at present and reached easily by public transport. Changes planned in and around Pelham Street in Brighton present some opportunities. The college plans to spend £45 million on modern new buildings there.

City College has a building in Preston Road and is expected to move its plumbing courses from there to another site. The college has also spent time, effort and money modernising the Whitehawk campus in Wilson Avenue. The students learning how to become car mechanics have the kind of kit that some garages must envy. If the studio school plan wins government approval, another generation of teenagers can expect an equivalent array of technology supporting their digital education.