Easter Concert
On the evening of 26th March (the last Thursday of term) we held our Easter Concert in the gym. It was a wonderful evening, with so much talent on display. The Chamber Choir opened the concert with an extremely competent and sensitive performance of ‘Scarborough Fair’. The two parts were beautifully held and the tone was pure and strong. They then sang one of their favourite songs ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from The Titanic. Again, this was sung with great feeling and sensitivity. Brass Group then gave a sound performance of ‘Au Clair De La Lune’, followed by a very lively ‘Gospel Rock’ with each member demonstrating their improvisational skills! It was great fun and it was good to hear how our brass players are progressing so well. The Junior Choir were tremendous. They sang Cesar Franck’s ‘Panis Angelicus’ which is demanding for children of such a young age. They then had a lot of fun with their rendition of the traditional song ‘The Mermaid’. Our soloists for the evening provided us with a great variety and range of music, from the Chinese guzheng, which Gabriella plays so magically, through to piano, cornet, clarinet, guitar and singing. We had a few guitar/vocal ensembles and the Boys’ Choir brought the evening to a rousing finish! It was an evening which showcased some of our greatest musical talent and there certainly was plenty on display, from Form 1 all the way through to Thornton. It is so exciting to witness our children’s musical progress and the great maturity with which some of them perform, especially some of our singers – Alannah Creed, Sarah Sullivan, Hollie Potter and, of course, Francesca Banks. A special mention must also go to Olivia Turner who was extremely brave and gave a very accomplished performance, accompanying herself on guitar in ‘Someone Like You’ (Adele). A further highlight of the evening was Charlotte Hoggan’s rendition of FourFiveSeconds and also Sophie Helferrich singing Black Velvet. These two girls have performed in many concerts throughout their school life at Cundall and their confidence and competence was a pleasure to witness. Many congratulations to all who took part and for making this such a memorable evening.
Easter Egg Competition
There were some wonderful entries into this year’s Decorated Easter Egg competition and we are always grateful to all those pupils whose incredibly imaginative creations brought so much colour and humour to our entrance tables in Main School and Pre-Prep. The winners, who all received their chocolate prizes are as follows: Main School: 1st Prize: George Dunn 2nd Prize: Emilia Praud 3rd Prize: Amelia Bullock Thank you every one who took part in the competition.
Trebuchet Challenge
With so many budding engineers (and equally enthusiastic and practically minded dads) in our midst, the Easter trebuchet Challenge promised to be quite a spectacle. As trucks and trailers started to convene in the main school car park on the last day of term, it became quite apparent that the assembled crowds of spectators from Pre-Prep up to Thornton, would not be disappointed. (Virtually) all homemade and (virtually) all adhering to the underlying counterweight dynamic, the apparatus ranged in size from tiny (fitting into the palm of a Pre-Prep hand) to enormous (based on a full size pallet), and in material from Lego to bamboo! As the competition unfolded, it became apparent that size does not necessarily matter as some of the largest contraptions failed to reach the distances recorded by some of the more diminutive devices, the unpredictability adding to the excitement and suspense of the spectacle. Although not technically a trebuchet, full credit must be given to the enormous entry designed and built by our most senior physicists, Thornton pupils Antony, Ben and Grayson. Such was the force with which their catapult expelled its cargo that the humble egg disintegrated in flight! (Further attempts with an orange, whilst not permitted within the rules of the challenge, did demonstrate the catapult’s impressive trajectory.) Thank you to everyone whose sterling efforts made for such an entertaining morning and congratulations to our winners – the Throup siblings and Wilkinson brothers.
Egg and Spoon Race
There was much scrambling of eggs around the grounds of school as pupils from Pre-Prep all the way through to Thornton took part in a succession of egg and spoon races. Staggered by age groups, the races saw pupils hurtling around the main school buildings and the lawns whist simultaneously trying to keep their crème eggs from falling out of their spoons (for which various methods, of varying degrees of legitimacy, were employed). Most eggs and runners made it to the finishing line, some rather worse for wear by that point than others!
Waterbabies Coffee Morning
We were delighted to be able to host our second coffee morning for the Waterbabies swimming group who use our pool for their baby and toddler swimming lessons. Just before the end of term, the youngsters and their parents joined us for Easter themed refreshments and a recital in the library; The junior choir offered a short but perfect programme of amusing and uplifting songs on a waterbased based theme, all carefully selected and accompanied by Mr Fitzsimons.