More Singing, More Giving, More Joy
“The only thing better than singing is more singing.”
Ella Fitzgerald, an American jazz singer who achieved international fame for her distinctive voice.
This week saw the Prep School alive with music as we hosted 6 performances ranging from our 5 years olds to our 11 year olds.
After many hours of learning lines, prop building, choreography, singing and method acting every single Year 6 pupil took to the stage to perform the school’s version of Bugsy Malone. The corridors have been buzzing with New York accents as the pupils immersed themselves in their preparations. No doubt parents have been singing the songs in the car to and from school for the past few weeks. Well it was all worth it. There were two performances, there is a completely different cast each night to ensure pupils have the maximum opportunity to be involved, and it is indeed mandatory for all Year 6 pupils. This way there is no view on whether it is “cool” or not to sing and dance on stage, it simply is what we do and what we have always done. The joy was tangible, for the performers and the audience, as the wise cracks were delivered perfectly, the physical comedy floorless, the props seamless (including the many splunge guns and cream pies) and the full cast songs uplifting. Well done to all the staff who made it possible, the parents and families who supported at home and of course for the children for yet again giving themselves over completely to the experience.
We have so many photos from the two performances to go through! We will share them on our Flickr account soon.
Across the week it has also been the turn of our 4 and 5 year olds in Reception to perform their assemblies on life cycles to their parents and families. They taught us about the metamorphosis (to borrow one of their words) of tadpoles, caterpillars and chicks. And yes, we all sang one of our favourites Spring Chicken, as well as Speckled Frogs and Little Caterpillar. Children, families and staff all singing together as part of our joint mission to raise these children in the best way we can. The old adage that it takes a village to raise a child is well and truly happening at the Prep and we see it all the time.
This week we also have our annual Commemoration Evensong at St Peter’s Church in which we honour the school founder Sir Antony Browne who is buried at St Peter’s. A time when we reconnect with our local community and our heritage as a school.
And speaking of the local community, one of our pupils, Connie O, in Year 4, has taken the initiative to fundraise for Cancer Research UK. Connie has signed up to Race For Life and if taking part in ‘Pretty Muddy Kids’ in June as her fundraising activity. When we asked why she had volunteered for this, she said, “…because I want to help more people not get sick.” We couldn’t be more proud – if you’d like to donate, please click here.
Next week is Enrichment Week, so watch this space for a debrief on the many adventures on the horizon.
Have a lovely weekend,
Alice Goodfellow
