There was a private viewing on Tuesday for invited guests and the opportunity for anyone in the community to visit yesterday. The exhibition showcased GCSE and A-level work in fine art, graphic design, textiles, engineering and food technology. Simeon Gurr, 18, made a working guitar from recycled records, which won first prize in the design and technology category of the Young Craftsman of the Year competition at this year’s South of England Show. The guitar has a wooden core to maintain tension but it is mainly constructed from 25 old vinyl records. Simeon said: “I got them all from a tip. It cost only £2 for all of them. Because it is an electric guitar, you are very flexible on what materials you can use to get the same sound.” For A-level graphics, Lucy Cook, 17, made a multi-purpose toy box and Jessie Brown, 16, made a jewellery box. They also created models of real properties, which had to be accurate. Lucy said she wanted to make a toy for children and started with the idea of a clock but wanted it to be more than that. Her box features a clock face with hanging numbers, sums, a cupboard and shape sorting. “I wanted to make it more usable rather than just a clock,” she explained. “I think children need to learn the time and it is quite an important part but I thought what could I add to that to make it more interesting.” Jessie included drawers, shelves and lights in her finished piece. She said: “The aim was to use as many materials as possible, so I have used acrylic, mirror, aluminium and two types of wood.” The A-level fine art included portraiture and exam pieces on the theme fruit and vegetables by 18-year-old Hannah Stanaway. Mrs Hobbs said Hannah had worked incredibly hard and had finished the year as the top student in fine art. Hannah said working with trainee teachers from Brighton University, who visited the school for a day, had been particularly useful. She added: “They really helped me. I like working expressively and quite big. “We were encouraged to study artists that are quite different to help us produce a unique outcome for the final exam piece. “I produced experimental pieces using different skills and different materials before doing the final piece using mixed media.” Mia Gilham’s work produced pieces based on domestic interiors, using different angles. She is going on to study interior design at Falmouth University. For the first time, the exhibition included work by key stage three students. Mrs Hobbs said: “It is lovely to see how exciting it is. They really liked the fact their work was in with the older students’ work.” The GCSE art work demonstrated the high standards achieved by this year’s students. Mrs Hobbs said: “They are a really strong group and we hope the results are going to be very good. “We teach them the skills to work with all different kinds of materials. We guide them once they have decided what they want to do.” Photography students displayed work from their digital course and for the first time, they completed a project on presentation, making books on a set theme. Mrs Hobbs said: “They get excellent technical input and study the work of photographers before developing their own work.”