AMONG THE COUNTRY’S BEST: The Oak Academy – LeAF Campus Rock Challenge team are one of the best nine schools in the country
A team of Bournemouth students is officially among the best performance teams in the country after winning a string of awards in the national finals of Rock Challenge.
Already designated a ‘premier league’ team, the students from Oak Academy – LeAF Campus are now also in the top nine performing schools across the country.
They recently performed in the national finals of Rock Challenge, with just eight other schools.
And their dance and drama production ‘Perfectly Mis-placed’ won a string of awards – hot-on-the-heels of its recent win in the Southern Premier League final.
Overall the school won fifth place in the nationals but also scooped individual awards for stage crew, drama, visual enhancement, costume, performance, concept, set design, soundtrack and lighting.
Executive Principal, Gill Blanshard, said, “It is a rare honour to compete in the national final of Rock Challenge, which is only held every three years.
“Just to be there is a huge achievement on its own but to also win several awards makes me especially proud of all the students and staff involved in this spectacular production.”
More than 100 students created, performed and staged ‘Perfectly Mis-placed’ – a tale of how love overcomes prejudice.
The story centres on a world called ‘Perfectia’ where only perfect people are allowed to live and others, known as ‘misfits,’ are banished.
When a perfect person and a misfit fall in love the ‘perfector’ fights to release all misfits and allow everyone to live in harmony.
Geoff Lake, the school’s Rock Challenge choreographer and lead teacher, added, “Although we did not take away an overall win, we’ve had confirmation that had the ranking places continued we would have received fifth – which for our second ever national final is something we’re all incredibly pleased with.”
Thousands of young people from across the UK take part in Rock Challenge every year.
The competition is a series of performing arts events which encourages young people to choose themes to explore that demonstrate their dreams, aspirations or concerns.
Their acts in all rounds are judged by a panel of specialists from the performing arts industry.
Oak Academy – LeAF Campus is one of the few schools to be designated a ‘premier’ school and able to compete in one of the two annual premier finals (northern and southern).
The team, which is made up of students from both the Oak Academy and LeAF Studio, competed in the national finals, which took place in the Milton Keynes theatre on July 6.
