Monday 18th March 2019

We are very pleased to be able to announce that the ESFA have now approved, by exception, that Dv8 can continue to be funded to offer 16-18 Study Programmes from our centres in Brighton and Bexhill.

This also immediately lifts the temporary suspension of in-year recruitment to our programmes, allowing Dv8 to offer our second round of Traineeships as planned after the Easter Break.

This decision was made after much scrutiny by the ESFA local and national teams, and was ultimately approved by Senior Management within the ESFA .

We would like to thank the ESFA teams for their decision, which we recognise is exceptional, with Dv8 being one of only a very few providers to be allowed to continue to be funded following an Inadequate Ofsted grading.

The decision was heavily influenced by the extraordinary public support that we received from parents, young people, employers, Local Authorities, partner organisations, colleges, and a number of MPs following our recent public campaign. The online petition to save Dv8 (https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-dv8-sussex-from-possible-closure) received nearly 3000 signatures and we received hundreds of messages of support, which were all forwarded on to the ESFA.

The supporting statements all told a common story of Dv8 providing a unique service locally, where young people can come and feel valued, feel safe, achieve and progress into meaningful lives. Many messages highlighted the unique nature of Dv8’s offer locally and that young people who succeed with us, would not necessarily engage or be successful elsewhere if we were not to continue.

This obviously comes as a huge relief to everyone at Dv8 and we are immensely grateful for the support that we received from within our local communities, which did so much to ensure that we can continue to offer our provision in Brighton and Bexhill. We cannot thank you enough.

Since our Ofsted inspection in November, we have been working closely with the Local Authorities in Brighton and Hove and East Sussex, who have now joined our expanded Advisory Board, to design and implement a clear plan for improvement, addressing all areas identified in the inspection report. We have already made significant progress in many areas and expect an Ofsted monitoring visit imminently, which we hope will recognise this in their published report.

We would like to thank everybody who signed the petition and wrote in letters of support to the ESFA and in particular, the teams at the Local Authorities and our local MPs in Brighton and Bexhill who supported our representations to the ESFA.  We would like to also thank our entire staff team, our students and parents at Dv8, whose commitment and support throughout this period has been essential and they have all been brilliant throughout.

We will be contacting all applicants for courses starting in September 2019 to begin the interview and enrolment process as soon as possible. We will of course be accepting new applications as of today.

Having come through this process, we now feel a newfound connection with our communities. Our mission and purpose have become clearer than ever and the impact we have had on the lives of young people and families has been made more evident than ever before. We will now push forward and become an even better organisation for it.

We will continue to “empower creative thinkers”, encouraging our young people to be ambitious, think creatively and take risks to solve problems, work together to achieve their goals, to learn from experiences, both good and bad, as a force for positive change.

For any further information on our programmes for 2019/20 or to apply to join a Dv8 course, please see www.dv8sussex.com or call 01273 550 432 to speak to one of our team.

We very much look forward to welcoming our next group of students to Dv8 and to completing this academic year successfully, continuing to support young people to be successful in work and life.

Many thanks,

Dan Wallman
Managing Director, Dv8 Sussex

To read the original statement regarding our response to Dv8’s most recent Ofsted report click here. To read about the petition click here.

TBC Events host a show as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival

Pride to Youth: Drag it Out is a fun, fabulous and flamboyant cabaret style drag event in the heart of Brighton to celebrate the young LGBTQIAPP+ community. Expect the unexpected from this interactive and all inclusive event. Watch live performances from a plethora of outstanding young queens, capture the essence of the event in our photobooth, discover more about LGBT culture and learn about the history of drag. Strut on down for an extravagant evening with canapes and mocktails, empowering young people to explore and discuss drag this Fringe.

We’re making drag accessible to young people and giving them a safe and creative way to explore and discuss all things drag. We believe there is a gap at Brighton Fringe for an interactive and inclusive drag themed event with the aim to empower the LGBTQIAPP+ community.

We want everyone to leave the event feeling positive about themselves with a more informed view of drag culture. Our goal is to raise awareness and broaden our audiences perception towards the art, and encourage them to attend similar events in the future.

TBC Events is a student led company run by young people studying on the Event Management course at Dv8 Sussex; a creative college for 16-19s based in Brighton. Pride to Youth: Drag it Out is an event planned and produced by youth, for youth.

Please help support their Go Fund Me campaign here.

The money you donate will go towards paying acts, renting a venue for the event and the Brighton Fringe fee, plus other interactive activities they have planned for the day.

If you’d like to attend you can book your ticket in advance here.

Follow TBC Events on social media!
@TBCeventsB – Twitter
@tbcevents_btn – Instagram
@TBCeventsB – Facebook

3D Character Artist, Natural Motion

We were thrilled to welcome 3D Character Artist George Brierley from Brighton’s Natural Motion Games into Dv8 to help inspire the next generation of game developers and 3D Artists!

George shared a vast amount of his own personal games industry insights and character production pipeline. He also took the time to see and give valuable feedback on our Games Development students models and concepts. If you’re interested in developing your game design and 3D skills then read on below for some of George’s personal tips and advice!

• Characters need to read well from silhouettes. You should be able to make a strong guess at who they are just from black and white.
• We humans tend to look at faces first.
• When creating an asset or piece of work, remember that it will most likely go on your personal portfolio. Produce your best work!
• Character base meshes are a thing, just not when you’re starting out… If you join a games company, they’ll probably have them for you to use and start with.
• Anatomy is super key to concept artists. Take a course, learn about bone structure. This will significantly improve your modelling and sculpting.
• Anatomy tip – pores and wrinkles run perpendicular to muscle fibres.
• You have deadlines and not a whole lot of time. It’s hard work but really rewarding to see the end product.
• Box modelling is a really good skill to develop.
• Sculpting is where you put in your detail such as wrinkles, pores, scar tissue, cloth, etc.

• Don’t be tempted to go into detail too quickly. Get the base shapes correct first. If there’s not enough topology or it’s not in the right place then you’ll get stretching on the texture sheets.
• Square topology is better than rectangular.
• When your 3D models are imported into a game engine they get triangulated. Hence why square topology is better than rectangular.
• Edge loops are key when learning to model and will allow you to manipulate your model easily.
• Use your own clothes as a guideline for UV seams.
• Substance Painter is industry standard and great to be familiar with.
• Remember, a concept is an idea.
• The best thing about criticism is that you can collate it all and choose the best feedback to implement.
• Work from reference images whenever you can. Your imagination is great, but that’s not always what is needed for a brief.
• Keep your retopology uniform throughout.
• Plan -> Maya / Blender -> Sculpting -> Retopology -> UV Mapping -> Texturing

Huge shout out and thank you to George for giving his time and expertise. Check out some of his work on Artstation here.

If you’re aged 16-19 and have the ambition to make your own games, model and design your own concepts, write narratives or even project manage whole games, take a look at our Level 2 & 3 Games Development course in Brighton and Bexhill.

“Your mental health is a priority. Your happiness is an essential. Your self-care is a necessity.”

To mark the importance of World Mental Health Day on Wednesday 10th October, young people and creative arts organisations across East Sussex came together in the evening at Dv8 Sussex to share their thoughts and experiences around the issue of mental health.  

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“This has been the biggest year of my life…“

Over the last year we’ve got to know Media Production student James and we think he’s a shining example of a young person that has a thirst for knowledge and real life experiences to prepare him for a rewarding career in the media industry! We spoke to him to find out about his early love for media and games and about his experience on his course at Dv8, plus his new exciting internship position. Over to you James…

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As A-level results are upon us once again, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share with you why we think taking a third year of college education at Dv8 Sussex could be the best decision you make for your future career!

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“Follow your dreams. Don’t give up!”

We were lucky enough to catch up and interview Miss Melody, a previous Dv8 student and now successful MC / DJ, to find out a little bit more about her journey into the music industry.

Where did you grow up and what was your childhood / earliest ambition?

I grew up in Bexhill On Sea and my earliest ambition was to MC/ DJ. I have always loved music. I remember having a set of turntables and a fisher price mic at the age of 8 and loved it haha.

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Smiles & laughter, tears and sweat, joy and sadness….

On Friday 22nd June we held our annual end of year showcase for our Brighton students at the Brighthelm Centre, to celebrate and share a selection of their work they’ve been busy creating over the last year.

With a room teeming to the brim with students from this year, next year’s applicants, proud parents and carers, and our friends and partners from schools, colleges and referral agencies from across East Sussex, our showcase extravaganza began.

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A Showcase featuring Music, Media, Games & Fashion

Every year our students get together to perform and exhibit to peers, family and friends, sharing all their hard work and achievements throughout the year. This year was no different as we had another fantastic Spring End of Year Showcase for the students of Bexhill at the De La Warr Pavilion with the best guest turnout we’ve ever had!

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Part of the Last Dance: Re-imagined Future Series

Throughout May, Lighthouse hosted a series of events called Last Dance: Re-imagined Futures with a full programme of free talks, workshops and events exploring the future of culture and arts. The roster of events featured independent figures who have contributed to the cultural landscape both locally and beyond, including musicians, DJs, record label owners, radio presenters, magazine publishers and many more who stand at the forefront of the creative industries.

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