UPDATE

3D Design students went to see the Serpentine Pavilion in Hyde Park recently. This was the start of an architecture project where students have been asked to design a pavilion of their own design for the site. They will end up making a scale model of their design.

Every year since 2000 the Serpentine Gallery has commissioned a temporary summer pavilion by a leading architect. The series presents the work of an international architect or design team who has not completed a building in England at the time of the Gallery’s invitation. Each Pavilion is completed within six months and is situated on the Gallery’s lawn for three months for the public to explore. This year’s is by Francis Kere, an architect from Burkina Faso.

3D DESIGN STUDENTS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN PAVILION

Back in June, Varndean once again opened its doors to the public to view the work of its A Level Visual Arts students. Judged by Ofsted to be ‘outstanding’ ‘innovative’ and exemplary’ the Visual Arts department supports the work of more than 200 A level Photography, Art, Textiles, Graphic Design and 3D Design students.

Head of Visual Arts Rob Macdonald said ‘’this exhibition is always the culmination of two years of creativity and passion and lots of hard work. It’s an exciting chance to see the stunning work from these artists and designers at the beginning of their careers as they next head off to art foundation or degree courses after college.’’ Out of the hundreds of students featured this year, here are just a few examples of the work which was seen.

Mia Waghorn (ex–Downlands) studied Photography. Mia’s fashion and studio portraiture demonstrated she is a talent to watch for. Mia said ‘’I have really enjoyed the photography course, the support from the teachers has been amazing’’. Tutor Gail Eastwood said ‘’Mia has a tremendous work ethic and will go on to be a hugely successful photographer.” Mia is now at Brighton MET continuing her photographic studies.

Austin Oliver (ex-Blatchington Mill) studied 3D Design. Austin’s exhibition featured laser cut models and architectural designs. Austin said “I cannot recommend this 3D course enough to anyone that enjoys problem solving and making practical outcomes’’. Tutor Sarah Lampard-Sawyer said “Austin has achieved outstanding final pieces that reflect the sophistication of his ideas and the ingenuity of his concepts.’’ Austin is studying Product Design at Loughborough University.

PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENTS WIN THE VARNDEAN COLLEGE’S FIRST ANNE HOWARD AWARDFive A Level Photography students at Varndean College were recently nominated for the college’s first Anne Howard Award in recognition of their outstanding work.

Mia Waghorn, Esme Whitehead, Luke Waring, Oscar Hardman and Kitty Fabry were the five nominees, with Mia and Esme being awarded joint winners and ‘highly commended’ going to Luke, Oscar and Kitty.

The Anne Howard Award has been introduced in memory of Anne who taught Photography at the college for many years, but sadly passed away in the summer of 2016 due to cancer. Each year the department would like to remember Anne by offering a prize to its students, with the winners being chosen by Anne’s family.

READING AHEAD CHALLENGE 2017For the third year running, students from Varndean College participated in the Reading Ahead Challenge. This is a programme run by the UK Reading Agency in which it challenges students to choose six reads (such as books and magazines) then read and review them in a diary provided. The scheme is for anyone who would like to read more and encourages reading for pleasure and on a regular basis. Pictured here are just some of the participating students receiving their prizes and certificates from College Principal, Phil Harland.

VISUAL ARTS STUDENTS’ SUMMER EXHIBITION

Morwenna Garrett-Bannister (ex Varndean School), studied Textiles. Morwenna’s Textiles show features elaborate costumes exploring historical and contemporary ideas. Morwenna said “this course has given me the space to be creative without fear of failure.’’ Tutor Jill Hurst said ‘’we have been the lucky ones to enjoy Morwenna’s vivid imaginative creations.’’ Morwenna is now at London College of Fashion studying Costume for Performance.

Elsa Money (ex Dorothy Stringer)

studied Art. Elsa’s end of year exhibition featured several large vibrant paintings and her work was shortlisted for the Kellie Miller Art Prize. Elsa said ‘’I feel I have explored my own personal style with oil paints and depicted subjects I enjoy most – colour, plants and people’’. Tutor Caroline Smith said ‘’Elsa tackled contemporary issues and found new forms of expressing these.’’ Elsa is now following an Art Foundation course at Brighton MET.

India Reah (ex Patcham High), studied Graphic Design. India’s final show featured posters and illustrations. India said ‘’I enjoyed combining pattern and colour from my Textiles and Graphics lessons together.’’ Tutor Dave Stephens said ‘’India was a great student who created unique and original illustrations.’’ India is now doing an Art Foundation year at Brighton MET.

INDIA REAH

MIA WAGHORN

MORWENNA GARRETT-BANNISTERELSA MONEY

AUSTIN OLIVER

BTEC ART AND DESIGN STUDENTS VISITED THE CASS SCULPTURE FOUNDATION IN SEPTEMBER, AN INCREDIBLE OUTDOOR SCULPTURE PARK AND WERE GIVEN A TOUR OF THE ARCHIVE FEATURING OVER 600 WORKS BY WORLD FAMOUS ARTISTS INCLUDING SIR ANTONY CARO, TONY CRAGG, THOMAS HEATHERWICK, MARC QUINN, TRACEY EMIN, EDUARDO PAOLOZZI AND JAKE & DINOS CHAPMAN.

DRAMA SUCCESS FOR EMMA AND BEN

Varndean Performing Arts students performed their final showcase as

part of The Brighton Fringe Festival back in May. It took place at The Warren Theatre and consisted of various stories performed in groups, duos and solos.

It was at this event that the winners of the 4th Sam Paterson Award were also announced. The Award was established back in 2014 to commemorate the death of Varndean Drama tutor Sam Paterson and is awarded each year for outstanding achievement.

This year, of all the fantastic, imaginative and hardworking students the department had the pleasure of working with, two students stood out in particular and the award was given jointly to both Emma Henderson and Ben Kenneally.

Emma & Ben impressed their tutors with their consistent high level of commitment and each of the performance projects since the start of their course. Over and above this, they had shown exceptional generosity in their approach to working with others, were always reliable for generating ideas, whilst at the same time enabling their peers to offer their input.

Over the duration of their course they had both ‘grown’ considerably and their desire to continue to work in the field of performance was something of a change from their ambitions at the start of the course!

Ben supported a number of college productions using lighting, sound and set-work. Emma showed extraordinary resilience and never let problems deter her. In addition to her fantastic practical work, along with fellow student Ophelia Hunter, she also took the bold step to perform in another fringe theatre performance “Spun Glass Theatre Company’s ‘The Spark Factory’.

Ben and Emma also volunteered their time working front of house and were well liked with both staff and public. They were incredibly deserving of this award.

BTEC ART AND DESIGN STUDENTS VISITED THE CASS SCULPTURE FOUNDATION

VARNDEAN COLLEGE STUDENTS MAKE LOCAL CINEMA HISTORY!

On a bright summer’s evening in May, eager Varndean Film Studies students participated in the first ever screening to an audience at the new Depot cinema in Lewes. Our students were hugely privileged to be among the first test audience in a pre-launch screening at the cinema, which has state of the art digital laser projection and soundwave audio-technology.

Independently owned and showing a mix of arthouse and mainstream films, Depot has a community focus aiming at diverse audiences and with a distinct educational outlook. Carmen Lijpen, the Creative Director of the Depot, warmly welcomed the student audience in her introduction and described the journey towards the cinema’s auspicious beginnings.

We watched the Turkish film ‘Mustang’ by film director, Deniz Gamze Erguven , based on a true story and a raw rite of passage for five orphaned sisters who endure the trials and twists of their arranged marriages.

We look forward with great excitement to further events and activities based at the cinema. As Owen Frost, an IB Film Studies student, remarked: “I can truly say I was at the first screening at the Depot cinema!”

BRIGHTON & HOVE’S MOST EXCITING ART GALLERY SUPPORTS AWARD WINNING STUDENTSHighly talented Varndean College Art A level student Poppy Pearce received a cash award and has had her work exhibited alongside national and international artists at The Kellie Miller Gallery in Brighton. Kellie Miller presented the annual award at the Varndean College Summer Art Exhibition in June.

Gallery owner Kellie Miller said “Poppy Pearce draws prolifically and fluently. She has a well-established style, exploring the boundaries between subjects and space using exciting mixed-media approaches. Poppy’s well established connections with the fishing community in Hastings allowed her to make a stunning series of portraits reflecting the life experiences of individual characters. Exhibiting work in the Kellie Miller Gallery in Brighton is a significant step in Poppy’s career as an artist.”YEAR 2 ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDENTS VISITED THE

GLOBE IN LONDON TO SEE KING LEAR ON 5 OCTOBER. THE SUN SHONE AND IT WAS A VERY ENJOYABLE PERFORMANCE - GOOD FUN WAS HAD BY ALL.

Varndean College student Colette Kite (ex Varndean School) has been offered and accepted a place at the

extremely competitive and internationally recognised Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, an international centre of excellence offering specialist, conservatoire-level contemporary dance training. Colette has now recently started her training there and we wish her every success with her future career ambitions as a dancer.

DANCE STUDENT LANDS PLACE AT ONE OF THE UK’S TOP CONTEMPORARY DANCE SCHOOLS

LABOUR WIN AN EARLY GENERAL ELECTION AT VARNDEAN COLLEGE Students and staff at Brighton’s Varndean College had the opportunity to make their political views known back in May as the college staged a mock General Election. Students were invited to vote for their preferred political party whilst gaining a flavour of what it was like to vote in a ‘real election’. The results came in the following day with Labour winning with 58%, followed by The Greens with 23%, Conservatives 9%, Lib Dems 8% and UKIP 2%.The College spent many weeks encouraging its students who had

now reached aged 18 to make sure they were registered to vote back in the General Election on June.

FESTIVAL OF LEARNING AT WOODINGDEANThe Festival of Learning is a national initiative that celebrates the achievements of adult learners. In July 2017 Varndean College ran their own adult learners celebration event at Woodingdean Library. As part of its Adult and Community Learning provision, the College runs over 30 classes each year in various neighbourhoods of Brighton and the achievements of the learners is outstanding and definitely som ething to be celebrated. We have learners of all ages including many in their 70’s and 80’s (in fact our oldest learner was 94). At our event we held a Tai Chi demonstration, plus exhibitions from the Art classes and Mosaics groups. The evening was rounded off with a performance from our Woodingdean choir ‘Singing Together’. It was a lovely evening of song, creativity and inspiration with over 80 guests attending. As the photos show, it is never too late to learn!

DUKE OF EDINBURGH STUDENTS GAIN SILVER AWARDSFour Varndean students, Lulu Vernon, Xander Gowler, Renny Iwanczuk and Jiaxin (Sunny) Xue all gained their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Awards in July. They began their adventure at Ashurst early on 5 July and trekked for about 5 hours a day, stopping at two different campsites through Ashurst and Lyndhurst before ending up at Brockenhurst at 2pm on 7 July ready for the journey home. They utilised map reading instructions from Ian at E3 Adventures to successfully navigate their route, with Ian meeting them at

various checkpoints along the way. They took turns carrying equipment and demonstrated excellent teamwork to all achieve their Awards.

VOICE@VARNDEANvoice@varndean celebrated National Poetry Day on 28th September with a fantastically well attended open mic poetry café in the common room. Students and staff read poems on the subject of freedom either written by themselves or by published authors. Giant posters of poems were placed round the college and poems were read at the beginning of class. Entries for the poetry competition that accompanied this event were very strong and given the plurality of voices and differing styles, the panel were hard pressed to find a winner. In the end Lily Aylward’s poem ‘My

Taxi Driver’, a superb meditation on personal and social freedom was awarded the voice@varndean prize. She will receive a copy of the collection ‘Poem for the Day. We thank everyone for their participation in this event.

FUNDRAISER FOR FRANKIEStaff at Varndean College raised £185 earlier this term in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. They spent their spare time baking a range of scrumptious cakes for colleagues to purchase, in order to raise money in memory of their dear friend and colleague, Frankie Murison, who is greatly missed by everyone.

LAW STUDENTS AT THE SUPREME COURTFriday 24th March, 21 students from Varndean College were given the rare opportunity to take part in a legal debate at the Supreme Court. The motion to be debated was: ‘Should you be allowed to deny a service or assistance on the grounds of your religious beliefs?’ After having a guided tour, students settled down to prepare arguments for and against the debate with the assistance of qualified and experienced solicitors and barristers. A third group took on the role of the five Lord Justices of the Supreme Court and decided which side had presented the strongest arguments. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all involved and we have been fortunate enough to secure a place in the debate again next year.

FLAT PACK SEATING PROJECTFirst year A level 3D design students worked for 9 weeks on developing ideas and producing a scale model for a piece of furniture that had to be fabricated from a flat sheet and constructed using non-permanent joining methods i.e. no glue/nails.

They started by exploring methods of joining flat surfaces together and then researched innovative joints to get inspiration, having looked in to contemporary furniture design they developed their own ideas through modelling and drawing. Once a design had been finalised they drew it up using ‘Corel’ and laser cut the final piece from 3mm ply. All of the final designs are capable of being taken apart, flat packed and reassembled.

CHEMISTRY LATEST

The College held its annual Open Day back in September and ex-Chemistry students Eliza McHugh and Natasha Wilcock made return visits to give talks to prospective students and parents about their lives at university. Eliza gave an informative talk about her life studying Chemistry at Oxford and Natasha about studying Medicine at UCL.

In the C3L6 Competition, Varndean yet again gained some impressive medals; 16 Copper Awards and 3 Silver.

Three students, Natasha Homer, Will Peckham Walker, Jess Duke and Portia Smith attended Reading University in Spring of this year to take part in Heroines of Science. They presented their Heroine Dorothy

Hodgkin to an audience of university lecturers and their peers.

Meanwhile the Analytical Team, comprising of Jess Duke, Joe Head and Joe Willis, attended the annual RSC Schools’ Analyst Competition wherein first year A Level Chemistry students compete in a round of regional heats, with approx. 20 teams reaching the National Final held in June. Teams are required to undertake various practical analytical determinations based on problems relevant to industrial or social needs. They were judged for skill, understanding and accuracy and are intended to promote team work and safety in the laboratory. The team acquitted themselves well.

IB STUDENTS SHINEONCE AGAINMaria Gureeva, Naomi Crisp and Sam Hukin were the stars of Varndean College’s outstanding International Baccalaureate Diploma results this summer. Their scores of 44 points each put them in the top 1% of over 90,000 IB students worldwide. Maria, who went to Downlands School, studied her native Russian and is now applying to study History at Oxford University. Meanwhile, ex-Steyning Grammar pupil, Naomi Crisp is applying to study Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics at Oxford and Sam Hukin (ex-Dorothy Stringer) is applying to study Maths at Oxford.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Varndean College offering the IB Diploma, which requires students to study six subjects, as well as completing projects and community work. Other high achievers with 41-43 points were Caroline Banerjee (ex-Cardinal Newman) now studying English at Cambridge, Maya Gavin (previously from the Lebanon), applying for Human, Social & Political Sciences at Cambridge, Sam Corbett (Dorothy Stringer) deferred place to study English

at Cambridge, and Sacha Grover (Lewes Priory), who is now passing on his expertise to other students by working for Varndean as a Maths Learning Coach before going to Oxford to study Physics.

Also celebrating are Alice O’Kane from Varndean School, who will study Politics at Birmingham, and Mieke Liebenberg from Warden Park, who is taking advantage of the IB’s international profile to study Digital Media at Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

Varndean’s forty-seven IB Diploma students averaged 36 points, which universities regard as equivalent to three A grades at A Level.

Last year’s IB Co-ordinator, Dr Sean McEvoy, who recently retired from the college after 30 years, couldn’t praise the students highly enough. “The International Baccalaureate is certainly a challenge but it produces confident and

articulate young people who know a lot about

the world around them and can really think for themselves. It’s been a great pleasure working with them all.”

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT ADORNS NEW SIGNS BY DESIGN STUDENTSAs part of their Year One coursework, this year’s Year 2 Graphic design students took part in a cross curricular project to design logos for the various Science Departments at Varndean. This project has culminated with three new signs being installed above the Biology, Chemistry and Physics rooms in the Hutchins wing. The students who designed them are Chemistry - Annie Garratt, Physics - Indra Padhiar-Tutton and Biology - Joshua McCabe.

SPORT AT VARNDEANThis year has seen the launch of the boys football performance programme at Varndean College with our partners The Russell Martin Academy.

25 Players were selected through a series of pre-season trials and recruited onto the programme. Pre-season training and matches have been really positive with some great team performances and a lot of potential for the year ahead. The players were invited to play the Chelsea Ladies First Team at their training ground, drawing 4-4. The competitive fixtures kicked off last week with a strong performance beating a long established Worthing Academy in the first round of the ECFA Mens Premier Cup. The College

is fielding 3 teams each week with girls football tournaments scheduled throughout the year and a plan to roll out our girls programme for 2018-19.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH, PRIVATE PROPERTY, EQUALITY AND THE MORAL OF LIFE… In late September Philosophy students descended on the Sallis Benney Theatre to discuss ideas on freedom of speech, private property, equality and whether the moral life is a good life. The event was organised by Brighton University and brought Varndean students together with other Sussex Philosophy students. The most popular speech was undoubtedly one making the case for entirely abolishing private property. Students were unconvinced and in seminars raised all sorts of interesting questions about what reasonably and with justice might be considered the scope and limits of private property – is your own body your property? How much property should you be allowed to accumulate? Should you take your bedroom door off its hinges?The next Philosophy trip is with Law and Theories of Knowledge students to Holland to contemplate Human Rights, Art and Politics.

MEDSOC LATESTMedSoc continues its success with a talk arranged this term by Steve Sparks on ‘Difficult Decisions and variation in healthcare – Lessons from NICE and NHS England’.

Multiple mini interviews have also been arranged for Year 2 medical students at the Brighton & Sussex Medical School.

SAM HUKIN

MARIA GUREEVA

NAOMI CRISP

VARNDEAN STAFF GET CYCLINGThirty three members of staff at Varndean College signed up to take part in the ‘Cycle September’ competition, run by Love to Ride, Brighton & Hove. Participants gained points by cycling and registering their trips, and on 13 September as part of ‘Cycle to Work Day’, abandoned their cars or public transport to brave the high winds to commute to college. Companies and organisations entered as teams, cycled to gain points and moved up the league to win prizes. Varndean eventually finished in 2nd place with 9,745 points in the 200-499 staff category, with Visual Arts technician Richard Gaskell finishing 6th in the Top Commuter League for Brighton & Hove. Pictured here are just some of the members of staff who braved the elements on 13 September and were rewarded with a free breakfast of croissant, fruit juice and coffee. A huge well done to all of them.

VARNDEAN CELEBRATES ANOTHER YEAR OF EXAM SUCCESSThe College was delighted once again with the success of its students who maintained an impressive record of exam results back in the summer. Visual Arts courses were particularly impressive. Out of the 177 entries, all subjects achieved a 100% pass rate with 92% of students achieving A*- C grades and 22.6% achieving the prestigious A* grade.

Varndean College is also proud to offer a comprehensive programme of A Level equivalent vocational courses which many students take alongside traditional A Levels. These results were equally impressive.

Deputy Principal, Jill Arnold,

said: “We are extremely proud of the excellent results achieved by our students, particularly in this year when many A Levels have changed and become even more challenging. Students and staff have worked extremely hard and thoroughly deserve this success. Once again Varndean College looks set to have outstanding value added, as students have achieved higher grades than their GCSE results originally predicted.”

This A Level success follows on from Varndean’s outstanding International Baccalaureate results back in July, when 47 IB Diploma students averaged 36 points, the equivalent to three A grades at A

Level. Three students achieved a staggering 44 points each, putting them in the top 1% of over 90,000 IB students worldwide.

Varndean College had a highly positive Ofsted visit in September 2016, which confirmed the College as ‘good’. Ofsted inspectors were impressed with how Varndean College staff ‘promote a culture of high expectation, which instils in students a strong work ethic and a good level of confidence in their abilities’. They also said: ‘Teaching, learning and assessment are of a consistently high standard and students enjoy the vibrant and challenging lessons they attend’.

ZAMBIA TRIP 2017

This summer a group of 16 students and staff took part in Varndean’s Zambia volunteer programme. The aim of the trip is to provide much needed help for rural schools in Zambia as well as being a fantastic and unique experience for our students. The college has a long-standing relationship with the Kaloko Trust and a community in the northern Copperbelt area of the country.

Students spent two weeks helping to make desks and benches for a class of primary school children in Kabya, as well as working with local builders constructing three pit latrines at Bwembelelo School.

Students also taught English, Science, Maths and PE to classes of secondary school pupils. At the end of two weeks the local pupils performed traditional dancing and singing and staff prepared a delicious traditional Zambian Nshima meal for everyone.

It wasn’t all hard work though, as the last week was spent in Livingstone, by Victoria Falls. Everybody got a chance to relax, some students spent time by the swimming pool, some brave ones did a bungee jump or micro lighting and we all spent a memorable night in the middle of Chobe National Park, Botswana.

“This trip has by far been the most eye opening trip of my life. I have been taken aback by how friendly, kind and approachable Zambian people are. Not once have I felt threatened, unsafe or homesick on this trip. I made so many new friendships with those old and young. I have I have loved the team work on all of the tasks and projects. In fact I loved every moment of this trip even when eating Nshima. I genuinely didn’t want the trip to end. Thank you everyone for an experience I will never forget.” Hannah Lewin

“The Zambia trip has been amazing! I have experienced so many new things from bricklaying to teaching. It

was enlightening to get a taste of Zambian culture from Nshima to the infamous ‘Zambian time’. By far the best

thing about the trip however, was meeting the people in Luansobe and Zambia in general.” Tom Willett

MORE THAN TWO THIRDS OF ALL A LEVEL SUBJECTS HAD A 100% PASS RATE

1097 A LEVEL EXAMS WERE TAKEN

OVERALL PASS RATE AT A LEVEL WAS 97.8% WITH 56.2% ACHIEVING A*-B AND 78.4% ACHIEVING A*-C GRADES

Varndean CollegeSurrenden RoadBrighton East SussexBN1 6WQ Autumn 2017

For further informationplease telephone (01273) 508011www.varndean.ac.ukemail: office@varndean.ac.uk

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w.captiv8uk.co.uk 01892 611500

STUDENTS RAISE AWARENESS OF MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS STIGMAVarndean students recently took part in the #IAMWHOLE nationwide campaign to raise awareness & end the stigma against mental illness. They held an event in the college hall to let everyone know about ‘#IAMWHOLE’ & to make people aware about the stigma which can be faced. This was then followed up by compiling footage from the event into an informative video which the students shared on

various social media platforms. ‘Did you know?’ posters were also displayed around college giving facts and ways to tackle the stigma and they wrapped up the campaign on 6 April with a showcase event at the Amex, where their work was presented to schools and colleges. A lot of positive feedback was received and the students were later presented with certificates by the College Principal, Phil Harland.

It’s not often that a student gets invited to present a poster for a major medical organisation, but that’s exactly what Portia Smith, a second year IB student at Varndean, was asked to do. She took part in the British Nuclear Medicine Society’s Annual Spring Meeting which was held at the IBC in Birmingham in May and set a record by being the youngest person ever to present at a BNMS Conference.

Portia represented a team of medical researchers who investigated the potential for misdiagnosis of lymph node cancers based on imaging

techniques that highlight normal physiological function and which can be mistaken for malignancy. The research has important implications for oncologists and clinicians who routinely see patients that require a definitive diagnosis. This collaborative research involved specialists from oncology, nuclear medicine and radiography.

“Taking part in this year’s BNMS Conference has been a wonderful experience; it was an amazing opportunity with a wealth of educational material and the chance to talk to medical professionals

VARNDEAN IB STUDENT IS YOUNGEST EVER PERSON TO PRESENT AT BNMS CONFERENCE

about their work, as well as providing valuable career advice and direction to potential medical students like me. This event has certainly convinced me to apply to medical school and perhaps to specialise in nuclear medicine” said Portia.

Yaso Shan, Biology Tutor at Varndean said “this is a significant undertaking for any student, but Portia’s interests, academic abilities and talents were easily suited to the task assigned to her. I was very impressed and immensely proud of her efforts, but more so that she remained un-phased by the challenging questions directed at her by leading medical specialists in the field of nuclear medicine.”

Unsurprisingly, Portia was also featured in the editorial of the June edition of RAD magazine; a publication aimed at medical imaging and radiography professionals. Portia hopes to study medicine upon completion of her IB programme. Many congratulations to her on this great achievement.

Portia is pictured here with Dr. Sabina Dizdarevic; member of the Science Committee for the BNMS.