This week’s Enrichment Talk
We introduced the new Dukes Diploma Award to Lower 6th students at their Enrichment talk on Wednesday. This additional qualification has been developed to prepare students for life beyond Fine Arts with ‘future-ready’ skills. The interconnected pillars of the award are Digital Wisdom, Critical Thinking, Character and Serving Global Society. Students will be able to take part in this from January 2027.
Graphics Trip to London Museum of Transport
Next Monday, our Year 12 and 13 Graphics students will visit the London Transport Museum to explore its extensive collection of transport-related art and design. Students will see the museum’s historic poster collection designed to advertise the growth of London’s transport network from the West End to the suburbs of Greater London. London Transport developed a distinctive visual identity to persuade people to travel more to make the most of the city. The visit will provide valuable inspiration for the students’ own graphic design work.
Next week’s Enrichment Talk
The Enrichment talk next week will be given by Philip Valentine from the University of Hertfordshire. This university has become a leader in filmmaking and story design degrees, including animation, comics, character design and concept art. It should be a fun and interesting talk with many clips of student work.
Photography Trip to Tate Modern
Next Thursday, our Year 12 Photography and Foundation Course students will visit Tate Modern to see Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography. The exhibition explores the development of Pictorialism, the first international art photography movement, and brings together more than 50 artists from around the world, with works dating from the 1880s to the 1960s. Students will explore how photographers experimented with techniques and processes to transform photography into an artistic medium, providing inspiration for their own creative practice.
Student Play – Accidental Death of an Anarchist
This term’s play has been cast, and rehearsals are now underway for an exciting new production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist.
Tom Basden’s adaptation of Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s 1970 satirical farce relocates the chaotic investigation of a suspicious death in police custody to a modern-day London police station.
Our cast are researching police culture, farce and comedy and the complexities of their characters, while a dedicated backstage team are busy sourcing props and costumes and designing the set to bring our police station to life.
The production opens on 2 December in the Law Theatre. We look forward to welcoming audiences for a thought-provoking and riotous evening.
Congratulations to Music Student Erin Su
In September, Erin Su from Year 11 gave a wonderful violin performance with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO). The concert programme featured the pieces the orchestra had performed during its three public concerts in Catalonia last August, giving Erin the opportunity to revisit and share music from the tour with a London audience. It is fantastic to see Erin continuing to develop her musicianship and gain valuable experience performing with such a talented ensemble.
What’s on in London this week
THEATRE
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky at Southwark Playhouse
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 trilogy, is currently staged by the theatrical group Troupe at Southwark Playhouse. This brilliant, compassionate piece of ensemble storytelling has a minimalist set, in-the-round staging and atmospheric lighting all used to emphasise the loneliness of the characters in interwar London.
This is a gem of a play about disappointment and the moments of loneliness, shame, and desire that make up everyday existence. The performances are poignant and engaging, with Michael Maloney outstanding as Ernest, the barmaid Ella’s elderly suitor and Yanexi Enriquez heartbreaking as the damaged but sympathetic good time girl.
MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
Painting the French Riviera at The Royal Academy
This extensive collection of 160 paintings, sculptures and drawings, made on the Côte d’Azur between 1870 and 1960 deserves more than a single visit. The light and colour of the works captures the atmosphere of the dazzling Mediterranean sun and shore. Among the impressive selection of paintings by Monet, Cezanne, and Matisse, there is a beautiful small painting by Berthe Morrisot. This lesser-known Impressionist captures the dying heat of the day as the sun hits the water. Yves Klein’s vibrant blue monochromes and anthropometries, made using women’s bodies as living paintbrushes, offer a more controversial talking point.
AND FINALLY, THE FILM …
Extra Geography (15 certificate)
Extra Geography is a bitter-sweet comedy set in an all-girls boarding school in Yorkshire centring on 15-year-old best friends Flic and Minna, brilliantly played by Marni Duggan and Galaxie Clear. They audition for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with the local boys’ school and the scholarship student Flic is cast in a minor role despite outperforming the privileged Minna, who is given the role of Titania. Concurrently they decide to “fall in love” with the first person they see. The fate befalls the geography teacher, Miss Delavigne (Alice Englert). As Minna pursues Oberon and Flic Miss Delavigne, their friendship fractures painfully. Extra Geography is an extra treat in the movie world’s school timetable.