Breaking New Ground: A Sixth Form Body Confidence Conference

In a first, our Drama and Psychology Departments came together to jointly facilitate a Body Confidence Conference for our Sixth Form students. The conference was designed to promote positive body confidence amongst our students through active participation in practical and theoretical workshops delivered by experts in the field.

Students learnt about the development of body image in adolescence and how to become more confident in body presence and the use of voice. Our unique approach to developing skills aimed to help improve public speaking and general presentation skills in a range of contexts including the Sixth Form leadership process and job interviews.

Furthermore, the conference was aligned to the School’s termly pastoral focus on oracy and leadership skills. Redmaids’ High strives to provide innovative ways to prepare our students for life beyond school and the world of work and this collaboration of speakers and workshops is another example of events we run across the school year. These range from careers assemblies, to working lunches with alumnae to networking events giving space for our students to build their softer skills and widen perspectives.

The conference comprised a range of sessions, including:

• A keynote speech from Sharon Haywood and Harriet Smith, Psychology researchers from the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE. The team conduct research into the psychosocial and cultural aspects of appearance with a view to promoting appearance diversity. The centre has worked in collaboration with high profile brands such as the Dove self-esteem project, Nike and Body Confident Sport to promote positive body image in girls.
• A workshop with alumna Eva Feiler, actor and theatre practitioner who has taught for ten years as an acting tutor at a variety of drama schools, including Guildhall, Rose Bruford and ALRA. Eva trained as an actor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2013) and regularly sits on drama school audition panels. As an actor, Eva has worked with organisations as diverse as the RSC, the BBC and Disney+/Hulu. Eva spoke to our students about using their voice to build presence and then led a working lunch with our Sixth Form (and some Year 11) Drama students, offering guidance to help them prepare for drama school auditions.
• The afternoon was taken up with two practical workshops, one from Circomedia, a school for contemporary circus and physical theatre based in Bristol, to work on building confidence through physical challenge and co-operation. The other from TheatreRe, a company specialising in mime and movement, who as well as touring around Britain have performed in Hong Kong, Mexico and on Broadway, and are long time teaching partners with RADA. Their workshop focused on confidence through self-awareness and control of one’s own physicality.

Our students – and staff! – were thoroughly engaged in these compelling sessions and everyone picked up valuable skills, tips and life lessons to take forward. We’re proud to have hosted this conference to highlight the importance of inner confidence and a strong sense of self.

Developing links between our Sixth Form studies and the rest of the school body, both Eva Feiler and Theatre Re stayed on to run workshops with our younger students. Eva worked on developing character from script with Years 7 and 8 and Theatre Re ran a workshop on devising with Years 9 and 10. Both workshops were enthusiastically attended, challenging and exciting for all involved.

To find out more about how a Redmaids’ High Sixth Form education can help you build a full range of skills to assure a brilliant future, click here.