THE curtain has fallen on the concert stage at Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College.

Musicians and singers have performed for the final time before preparing to leave their current base.

The Final Countdown was staged at the college in Victoria Road last night.

It marked 40 years since the sixth form centre opened.

And preparations are now under way for the move to a £33 million campus in Leek Road, Stoke, in September.

Director of music Martin Drew was the driving force behind the show at the site he attended as a student.

Martin was one of the first to step through the college's doors in 1970, studying music, French and maths.

After leaving in 1972, he joined the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

He then taught music at Biddulph High School for 14 years before returning to Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College in 1992 and taking over from David Revitt.

Last night Martin brought together students past and present to perform a mix of classic and modern songs.

The 56-year-old, from Stoke, said: "When I started here as a student we had to wear our individual school uniforms, as the college was an amalgamation of all the sixth forms in the area.

The changes to the building have been mainly cosmetic.

Martin said the interior had been changed over the past 10 years to accommodate modern teaching methods.

He added: "The library used to be a place where you spoke at your peril and now it is an open learning resource centre with lots of computers where quiet talk is permitted.

"Everybody was called sir in those days and now students use teachers' first names.

"The respect is still there, but teachers are not as detached from their students as they used to be."

More than 70 students, old and new, and 15 acts performed in the event, including a 65-member wind group, solo singers and bands.

Martin's three sons have all attended the college and the youngest, Tom, performed a piano solo in the concert.

The teacher said the event brought back good memories.

He added: "When I was a student here me and some friends set up a brass quintet and two of the members, trumpet player David Godfrey and Phil Goodwin on the tuba, returned to play in this final concert."

Martin had been in the first show, Beggar's Opera, in 1972.

He said: "They held the dress rehearsal back from us until the very last minute, when we discovered we were required to wear period costume, meaning us lads had to wear tights.

"It was too late to abandon it and they were right in thinking if we had known beforehand we might have given it a miss."

Speaking of the move, he added: "I am very interested in what the new building can offer us."