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Oct 03: Visit to Bellville by Andy Schofield, Varndeans' headteacher, to undertake initial planning. Feb 04: Visit to Bellville by Robbie Mitchell, Head of Performing Arts, to donate ICT equipment and establish joint Dance4Life project, in collaboration with Red Zebra, a Brighton-Cape Town arts group. Dance4Life is a worldwide AIDS-HIV awareness project, planned for November 27 2004, involving schools in South Africa, the Netherlands and the UK. Bellville South, Varndean and East Brighton College of Media Arts are among those taking part. Varndean also donated a substantial quantity of samba equipment to be used by street musicians, through Red Zebra’s Cape Town base. Apr 04: Visit to Bellville by Joan Melcher, Varndeans' governor, to donate funds to support the establishment of a further ICT room and to facilitate student-student communication. Joan took a whole school assembly. Aug 04: Further visit to Bellville by Robbie Mitchell, to fully establish Dance4Life project. Oct 04: Visit to Bellville by Paul Macdonald (SST developing leader programme) and Sunny Agnihotri, to teach, meet students and establish class-class links, as well as to undertake research for teaching materials in the Western Cape. Paul and Sunny also took a whole school assembly.
Everyone from Varndean who has been fortunate enough to visit Bellville has been felt a strong emotional tie to the school – and more widely the Western Cape. Varndean has a strong commitment to international links and development education. We are using our partnership with Bellville to ensure a high profile for South African issues throughout the school and to raise wider concerns related to apartheid, inequalities and political change. South African music and video clips of Bellville students have been used in public musical performances and whole school assemblies. The latest visit to South Africa by Varndean staff was planned specifically so that a large number of electronic images – of the region, the locality of the school and the students themselves, could be acquired. Bellville has two student governors on a body of only eight – and they have full voting powers. The UK is some way behind this sort of democratic participation in school life, although Varndean is part of the IPPR Teenage Governor project and has had students as associate governors since 2003. We currently have seven, sitting on all governors meetings/committees, except human resources. Bellville celebrated its 40th anniversary on 7 December 2004.
Web: http://www.varndean.co.uk/ Web: http://www.bellvillesouthsss.wcape.school.za/ Email: andyschofield@varndean.co.uk Email: robbiemitchell@varndean.co.uk