BACA Scholars Year 7 Trip to The Keep

Year 7 Trip to The Keep 

Bright and early on the morning of Monday 27 January, 14 brilliant and bright Year 7 students made their way over to The Keep to complete a 'Beyond the Archive' workshop in partnership with Sussex University. The workshop was one of three that the Year 7 students will attend, with the final outcome being that these 14 young minds will help to co-curate an exhibition to be displayed in the Jubilee Library in June.

The project involves looking at an array of media, archives, and photographs to produce pieces of visual culture - stories, prints, paintings, etc - that are inspired by Victorian England.

Our Year 7's dove straight into the archives from the moment they walked into The Keep! Before first break they were given the opportunity to look at illustrations from the original copy of Oliver Twist. The Year 7's had studied that book in English last term, so were especially excited to see original depictions of the characters they love. The students were also able to peruse a selection of original novels, textbooks, and poetry collections dating back to the 1800's. Each student handling every page with care.

The day culminated with the students creating their own imaginative pieces based on the archival art and history they had been looking at in the morning. The students each produced a story or poem, a critical analysis of illustrations, and their own original drawing that will be used in the next workshop to create a lino print. All students were able to read aloud and share their individual creations before heading back to BACA just in time for lunch!

The research students running the workshop complimented BACA's 14 Year 7's on being the brightest and most well behaved group of students they have work with!

Special mentions to Alicia N and Robert-Leigh W for their brilliant, creative, and sophisticated pieces of poetry.

Author: Ms Jewell (Teacher of English)