History is news

Breaking news...pupils from Bexhill High School are learning how to make local history come alive.

They have been making their own films designed as news reports to trace the development of Bexhill from centuries past through to the present day.

The Rother Special News Report project has been organised for youngsters from Bexhill and Robertsbridge by East Sussex charity Sound Architect and made possible by a 35,100 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as financial help from Rother District Council.

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Rachel Lewis of Sound Architect, which provides activities and training for younger people, said that a TV studio is being set up at Bexhill High and that pupils are preparing news reports from three past eras.

They are researching and reporting on Thomas Sackville, who was a poet and politician in Elizabethan times, the Sidley Green Incident at Galley Hill in 1828 which involved local smugglers, and Rudyard Kipling at Batemans at the beginning of the First World War.

The pupils' reports will cover such items as changes in the landscape and settlements, local industrial history, fashions, culture, and social and economic progress,

Rachel commented: "It is so exciting - they are thoroughly enjoying it.

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"We have spent the last two months writing all the scripts and detailing the costumes they need and searching for props. As from this week, they will be learning camera skills and they will go out on site - for instance, they will be going to Batemans to film, and will be reporting on Kipling's son Jack going off to war."

The idea for the Rother Special News Report, which is aimed at 14-16 year olds, came from Rachel herself as a new way of understanding and enjoying history.

Sound Architect plans to show the films from Bexhill and Robertsbridge Community College at a showing at the DLWP during the East Sussex Young People's Film Festival, due to take place in October.

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