Ron Dearing UTC students celebrated the end of the academic year with a fun-filled cultural festival.
RonFest returned for a second consecutive year, enabling students to experience a range of events which encouraged them to embrace new opportunities and soak up culture.
Six zones were set up to offer gaming, music, Formula 1 (F1), E-sports, crafts and survival activities, and students were encouraged to register for their preferred activities.
RonFest is part of the school’s Cultural Capital programme to promote culture and creativity, broaden students’ experiences and develop their ‘personal brand’ which will help them achieve success in the competitive university and apprenticeship markets.
The gaming zone included the history and evolution of gaming and various retro arcade games to play on, from vintage to modern day.
The music zone saw performances from a jazz funk band, guitar try-outs, attendance from the Beats Bus team, tips on how to structure songs, rap and DJ, and a vocal clinic.
Meanwhile, the survival zone included an escape room, workshops on how to build models to escape flooding, and survival-themed board games, run by the school’s Science department.
The F1 in Schools zone focused on reaction times, F1 races across the world and what it takes to be an F1 driver.
Students in the E-sports zone took part in two online tournaments.
Finally, the craft zone encouraged students to express themselves through a wide range of mediums including mural painting, weaving, photography, ceramics and jewellery-making.
Chris Berry, Assistant Principal at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “The overall aim was to encourage the students to try something new and give it a go.
“We want our students to be open to new experiences and discover new interests, and we’re already looking forward to next year.”
Students also enjoyed street food on offer throughout the day, adding to the RonFest experience.
Year 10 student Connor Paddison, who enjoyed working on Hull Maritime-inspired art in the craft zone at RonFest, said: “I don’t study art and I’ve never done anything like this before but I loved it.
“We mixed lots of different colours of acrylic paint, PVA glue and water before dropping it onto a canvas and moving it around.
“My piece is inspired by Hull Docks and the fishing industry. I never thought it would be so easy to make such a cool painting.”
Fellow Year 10 student Tilly Culkin said: “I really enjoyed the RonFest craft zone and made a ceramic plant pot to hang on a wall.
“I study GCSE Art and I love working with clay but I’ve never made anything as intricate as this.”
Year 10 student Cohen Burr, who enjoyed the music zone, said: “This is the first time I’ve done any mixing, which involves combining two different tracks together. It’s fun but complex and you have to concentrate hard to count the beats in each track to match them properly. I really enjoyed it.”