Last year, we launched a Visiting Artists Programme. Local artists are invited to exhibit their work in our Temple building, one of the many ways in which we share our beautiful spaces with the community and connect with the creative spirit of the city. 

This September, we are delighted to be showcasing the work of Sarah Arnett, an acclaimed contemporary artist, illustrator, designer, and textiles specialist who creates work that offers a commentary on the female experience. 

Thanks to Sarah, we have kicked-off the new school year in style. In Sarah’s words, her work is “modern, elegant, and bursting with colour…” She wants stories to “leap” from our walls and “envelope” us in a sense of “fantasy and escapism.”

Sarah Arnett is a fitting choice for our first visiting artist of the year.  Staff enjoyed three days of INSET last week, and had the chance to gaze at the pieces in the quiet and stillness you would expect in any art gallery. 

And then term began, and our students burst onto the scene, providing a vibrant explosion of energy and dynamism to rival the scenes suspended from the walls.

Drama, curiosity, life and colour; a canvas where imagination knows no bounds; boldness and bravery; stories that leap across corridors; tales that intertwine; and a running commentary on the female experience…

Welcome to the Autumn Term at Brighton Girls. 

As new students settle in and existing students return to familiar routines, the rich tapestry of curricular and co curricular life has started to form.  

Already in the first week, we’ve had a Spotlight Talk, which brought together three women in engineering, all at different stages of their careers, all former students of the school.  On Wednesday, the Year 9s survived a night camping in the bitter cold. There were heightened emotions on Thursday as the Year 7s arrived at school for their trip – their heads just about visible amid a sea of backpacks, blankets and sleeping bags – only to be told that the adventure was postponed. Meanwhile, our Sixth Form students enjoyed a city break in Nice, time to get to know each other before the serious business of A Level specifications and UCAS applications gets underway, and our Pre-Prep pupils explored our new Forest School at Newtimber. All this fantasy and escapism was, of course, played out against a backdrop of timetabled lessons, assemblies and classroom activity. 

Sarah Arnett has already delivered a workshop to Years 5 and 6, and she will be working with our Senior Textiles students, joining Art Club and offering a parent workshop in the coming weeks. 

After half term, we will put together a display of student work inspired by Sarah’s aesthetic. 

I don’t know what a collaboration between Sarah Arnett and Brighton Girls will look like, but I can’t wait to see it.