Buckswood sets gold standard in the arts

The drama and music examinations require each student to perform a prepared piece in front of an external assessor. The aim of the LAMDA exams is to improve communication skills, increase self confidence and strengthen social skills, as well as counting towards University entrance points.

Of the twenty-one students who were entered for the examinations, nineteen achieved the top Gold Medal standard, with nine distinctions and ten merits being awarded. Even more impressive, is many of the students were performing in their second or third language, including Angelia Khartonova from Russia and Liubov Sergeeva from the Ukraine who both achieved a phenomenal 90% pass with Distinctions.

The LAMDA course is popular with students from both the UK and abroad who study side by side at the International school, and is taught by professional actor and author, Tim Baker.

Head teacher Mark Redsell said:“We are delighted by these latest set of LAMDA results, which are testament to the standard of language teaching here at Buckswood.

“Our congratulations go to the students and Mr Baker on a fantastic set of results that will make their university applications stand out as something special.”

Mr Redsell, who has been at the school for two years now, was the was the featured ‘Talking Head’ in the Guardian newspaper earlier this year.

The Guardian article charted Mr Redsell’s global career which has led him to Buckswood.

He said: “I really wanted to be a marine archaeologist; I studied archaeology at Nottingham University and was a diving instructor. But I suffered an accident which meant I couldn’t dive anymore so had to shelve that ambition. Someone suggested doing some English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching so I trained and realised this was actually pretty good fun. I worked as an EFL teacher all over the world – then I moved into educational management. Until I took up the headship of Buckswood School.”