Local school students attend a presentation from students about life at university (Photo credit: Malcolm Tam)

Over 100 Year 10 & 11 students from schools across Sussex and London visited the University on Wednesday 21 March for a day of English and drama activities organised by the University’s Widening Participation team.

The event, hosted by undergraduate students from the Sussex Musical Theatre Society, included a tour of the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts as well as a chance to find out more about student life at Sussex. They were then treated to a special preview performance from the student society of ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde’.

The visiting students are currently studying the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson as part of their GCSE English course. The event was aimed to enrich their studies and broaden understanding of how literature can be adapted for stage, whilst also discovering more about studying at university and student life at Sussex. 

For some in attendance it was the first time that they had seen a live stage performance as well as being the first time that they had visited the University.

The president of Sussex Musical Theatre Society, Erin Knox-Macaulay, said that working with students from local schools has been one of the highlights of her university career, adding that “performing our show to them was brilliant and I hope they had just as much fun as we all did!”

The event is part of the University’s Widening Participation programme which works with a network of around 80 partner schools, colleges and charities in London and the South-East to improve access to higher education for people from under-represented backgrounds.

“Seeing Sussex students helping to raise the aspirations of young people has been great,” said Chris Mason, Widening Participation Events Manager. “By bringing the characters the young people are studying to life and providing such an informative day, I hope the young people will be inspired to consider English and drama as subjects for further study, and perhaps even encourage them to study at university.”

The six schools represented at the event were Seahaven Academy, Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, The Littlehampton Academy, Hove Park School, The Elmgreen School and The Sir Robert Woodard Academy.

You can read more about this year’s Widening Participation events here.