Excitement ismounting overnew Rye school

Principal Jo Townshend says she has been overwhelmed with the interest shown in the school, which will offer workplace experience to students and bring post 16 education back to Rye after more than a decade.

The school has already had more than 100 applications, including one from South Africa, while interest has been expressed from India.

Links have already been forged with a school in Denmark with the aim of creating a joint film festival and it has associations with a school in France.

A recruitment drive is well underway and has already attracted professional film-makers and artists who will share their knowledge and experience with students.

Jo Townshend said: “The local community have been phenomenal - people have really got behind us.

“There is a great sense of excitement here because of the huge potential the school will have and the opportunities it will create.”

The building of the school has encountered an obstacle in the form of an underground gas pipe which may delay it’s early September opening, but is in negotiation with British Gas in a bid to find a solution.

Jo Townshend says plans are in place for lessons to go ahead with the whole town acting as a classroom for the new intake.

She said: “They will be based at the Town Hall, the Lion Street complex an the community centre working with artists and using cutting-edge media devices.

“The whole town will be a blank canvas with Rye becoming an exciting installation.”

The new school will include a shop where students can learn skills in marketing their own work and creations.

The school will be taking part in the National Citizen’s Service and students who enrol will be able to enjoy a residential course where they can take part in team-building and social enterprise exercises.