Education | ED03 | Summer 2016

Sponsored by
Tunbridge Wells
Broadening Horizons
WT talks to local schools about how they encourage their pupils to look beyond traditional, academic
studies and towards a more creative career path by organising ‘creative weeks’ and encouraging
participation in school clubs and sports. We also meet some of the guest speakers and former pupils
brought into schools to inspire pupils to aim high and consider a life less ordinary....
Image 5166: Siobhan Fogarty, Head of Creative Arts at Sackville School, with Year 10 GCSE
Drama students after their performance of Ernest and the Pale Moon
Siobhan Fogarty,
Head of Creative Arts,
at Sackville School,
Hildenborough with specialisms
in Drama and Media Studies
Does your school give
equal weight to nonacademic
subjects?
I am fortunate in that Sackville
appreciates the importance of
the creative arts in developing
confidence and wellbeing. All
students experience a wide range of
Visual Arts, Drama, Music and Film
making, both in time-tabled lessons
and through extracurricular activities.
My background as a professional
actor, scriptwriter and film maker
has been invaluable for developing
the creative arts within school. I
am also Director of The Curious
Theatre Company which is based in
Sackville’s ‘The Space’ studio theatre.
Are pupils encouraged to
follow a creative career?
We encourage our students to believe
that anything is possible in life
and if they wish to pursue a career
in the creative industries we give
them our full support. Our recent
careers fair had a number of alumni
attending as exhibitors representing
a broad range of occupations which
included architectural model making,
technical theatre, animation and
professional music practitioners.
How does the school help
to ‘broaden horizons’ ?
I firmly believe in exposing students
to a broad range of artistic influences.
We have an annual West End theatre
trip and also host workshops by
innovative performance companies.
Each year we hold an Arts Week which
embraces cross-curricular learning and
culminates with a school production
which this year will be an ecological
piece staged outside in the school
grounds; I am a great believer i n
utilising ‘found’ performance spaces.
What interesting careers have
pupils gone on to follow?
We were delighted when former
student, James Benmore, was
guest of honour at our Prize
Giving. James is the author of a
series of novels based on Charles
Dickens’ character ‘The Artful
Dodger’. His third book, Dodger
of the Revolution, will be published
by Quercus on 22 September.
Sackville School
Tonbridge Road
Hildenborough, Kent
TN11 9HN
01732 836447
www.sackvilleschool.co.uk
Guest speaker – Junior King’s
Charlie Sinclair
Charlie was Head Boy at Junior King’s
in 2010 when he played rugby in the
JKS U11 National Champion school
rugby team at Twickenham. He was a
keen musician playing the trumpet and
singing in the school choir. During the
Remembrance Service he played the Last
Post and it was his musical experience
while at the Junior School that led
him to become a Music Scholar at The
King’s School. As he progressed through
the school he left his rugby playing
and trumpet behind to concentrate on
the guitar and composition, along with
singing a wide repertoire of musical
styles in a number of the school’s choirs.
He performed Sinatra’s You Make
Feel So Young with the BBC Big Band
while at the senior school and is now
studying rock guitar and composition
at The Royal Northern College of
Music. He has formed his own band,
Silvette, and he tours performing his
own music. He has recently completed
the score for a feature film Marriage,
and he is looking forward to a varied
future in the music business.
The Junior King’s School, Milner Court,
Sturry, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 0AY
01227 714000 www.junior-kings.co.uk
33 www.wealdentimes.co.uk