STUDENTS at a Basingstoke secondary enjoyed a week of arts-based activities in partnership with other schools across the town.

Pupils at The Vyne School, in South View, took part in various activities including cooking, dance, drama, art, and creating their own newspaper.

The three-day event was in partnership with other Basingstoke secondary schools, with students uploading their work and photographs to a shared website to show what they had done.

Basingstoke’s two colleges also collaborated with the schools, with a teacher from Queen Mary’s College visiting The Vyne to teach an urban contemporary dance.

One group of students spent the morning interviewing their peers about the arts week, before writing up their findings to publish in a student newspaper.

Design and technology students made their own wooden herb planters, the produce of which will be used in cooking classes.

In drama, a group of students were practising part of the Adam’s Family play which they were preparing to perform to teachers and other pupils.

Another group were learning Justin Bieber song Love Yourself to perform at the end of the week.

Pupils taking part in an art-based activity were making clay fish to decorate, which when finished will be joined together to hang at The Vyne as a mural.

There were amazing aromas wafting from the kitchens as pupils prepared afternoon tea for their friends and teachers, including sausage rolls, scones, samosas, and cupcakes.

Grace Ballard, 14, said: “It’s fun. We have invited our friends to enjoy everything we have made later.”

One group of students were learning how to design their own game, creating a maze with different rooms to escae from.

Kevin Peebles, assistant headteacher and a computer science teacher, said: “The industry has the fastest growing employee roles in the UK. You don’t have to be a gamer to be a game designer you need logic and common sense.”

Headteacher Nicola Pearce said the art week provided an opportunity for all the Basingstoke secondary schools to collaborate.

She added: “It’s about getting students to think what it means to be part of a community. It is about the idea of collaboration and being clear to the community that the schools do work together and give students the opportunity to be creative. School is more than the narrative we are all being told about a lost generation.”