Going Dotty at Emma Bridgewater Pottery!
Emma Bridgewater Potteries trip 2016 Last week the whole of Year 7 enjoyed a day trip to Stoke on Trent – the home of British pottery production. First stop was the Potteries Museum, which houses a world class collection of Staffordshire pottery, allowing pupils to engage with the history behind the industry. The children toured the galleries sketching their favourite pots and exhibits. Next stop was the Emma Bridgewater factory where the slip cast ceramics are still produced using traditional techniques. The children toured the factory to learn about the production of our favourite mugs, plates and jugs. It was fascinating to see that they are still hand-made and decorated, each pot passing through thirty processes and sets of hands. The pupils decorated their own piece of Emma Bridgewater ware in the decorating studio. They used cut sponges and underglazes to create their own designs. The glazed pieces will arrive in school shortly and will be displayed in the school office. Mrs Pearson would like to thanks Mr Vale, Ms Poulton and Mrs Massey for help on the day.
Lunchtime concert
What a lovely interlude our lunchtime concert provided in our very busy week leading up to exeat. Following the long summer holiday the pupils had very little time to prepare for this concert, but the standard of the performances was high and the children were unfazed. It was wonderful to have Lily Sadler with us from PP2 singing ‘The Clock’, which she delivered with such confidence and clarity. From the other end of the school we had Gawain Romijn (Thornton) who presented a delightful performance of ‘On The Street Where You Live’ from ‘My Fair Lady’. We had a good variety of instrumental solos including violin, saxophone, piano, cornet and the brass group started and ended the concert with some gusto! It is always a pleasure to hear our musicians perform; to see the progress being made and the increasing confidence which performance brings. Well done to all pupils who took part in the concert.
Music and Drama Evening
The Drama Club gave a performance of “Garlic And Lavender” for the first part of the Summer Concert. The play retells the story of one Count Drackenburg (not difficult to guess who this character is based on!), played by Archie Powell, who attempts to claim two victims from Harrogate, Anna Edwards and Daisy Hynd. He is helped by his grotesque servant Murk, played by Zoe Austin. Much suspense and excitement unfolds as there is an attempt to ‘a-thwart’ the Count by the Professor of Vampires Dr Lutz, played by Douglas Wadsworth. Tilly Ruddy, Sophie Pointon and Charlotte Banks made up the local community who ‘gloomed and doomed’ in the inn about strange goings-on up at Castle Drackenburg. Our hero, Roger, gallantly played by Hollie Potter, bounced onto the stage to save everyone at the last minute, The audience was scared on many occasions, particularly when Zoe Austin’s French Ghost ‘glided’ onto the stage to inflict terror. It was a very enjoyable start to the evening with some excellent performances.
Pre-Prep Summer Concert and Speech Day
The gym was adorned with flowers for the Pre-Prep concert and prize giving. Mrs Ford put on a lovely concert with renditions of Sing a Rainbow from Nursery and Reception and Bare Necessities and Supercalifragilistic from PP1 and PP2. Mrs Sample was extremely proud of her recorder group who gave an impressive performance which was a credit to their hard work in recorder enrichment. There were many lovely individual performances on a wide range of instruments including Andrew Sturdy on the saxophone and Harvey Mercer on the trombone. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Reception performed Gary Barlow’s Sing and everyone enjoyed the grand finale when PP1 and PP2 gave an enthusiastic rendition of Reach for the Stars. Well done the staff and pupils of Pre-Prep. You always ‘reach for the stars’. It was a lovely celebration of the pupils’ achievements and during the year all Pre-Prep pupils have received a prize. We said goodbye to PP2 as they begin their adventures in main school by giving them a shield as a memento of their time in Pre-Prep.
Form 3 Perform Romeo and Juliet
Form 3 gave a wonderful performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet just before the half term holiday. The production was a contemporary version of the original play and proved to be a very challenging task for the children to undertake. Nevertheless, the children worked extremely hard in the run up to the performance and really ‘pulled it off’ on the night. They acted with sympathy and humour in equal parts, resulting in a captivating and enchanting recital. It took a lot of dedication to learn a complicated script; many members of the audience commented on how well the children had done.
LAMDA News
Saturday 21st of March was a significant day in the Cundall calendar: not only did Cundall pupils break a Guinness world record but some students also hit an all-time high with their LAMDA results. Despite being cold and tired after a freezing morning on the Astro, all our candidates did exceptionally well and the results are truly outstanding and probably the best we have had for a long while: For Acting Grade 3, Duo: Ellen Watkins, Niamh Watkins, Henry Calvert, Ben Earley, Niamh Wilson and Maya Briggs all passed with Distinction. For Speaking Verse and Prose Grade 3: Olivia Turner, Alannah Creed and Francesca Banks all passed with Distinction. For Acting Grade 6 Solo Bronze Medal: Pippa Adamthwaite-Cook achieved a Distinction. Congratulations to all who worked so hard to achieve such brilliant marks and a special mention for Pippa Adamthwaite–Cook for achieving such a fantastic grade at Bronze Medal level (equivalent to a GCSE.) A big thank-you must also go to Mrs Fearn, who has worked tirelessly to ensure that all our students were well prepared and ready to face the examiner.
Lunchtime Concert
Last Friday we enjoyed another lunchtime concert in Cundall Church. Once again, we had some first time performers who had been very stressed in the days leading up to the concert, However, they performed brilliantly and actually really enjoyed the experience and the wonderful sense of achievement which follows such a performance. It is exciting to have another extremely talented boy chorister in Form 1 – well done Jolyon! It was lovely to have performances from across the age range and also a variety of styles and genres. For some, it was their last lunchtime concert at Cundall. Special congratulations go to Sarah Sullivan who sang a beautiful duet with Mrs Dunford (Panis Angelicus) and to the group of form 6 girls (Ellen, Francesca, Maya and Niamh) who had worked hard, learning and practising the song ‘Say Something’ which they performed so competently. We have some talented piano players and singers coming up through the school and it is great to hear the progress which our brass players are making. Henry also delivered a confident and musical performance on his clarinet. Well done to all of our musicians on making this another very memorable and joyous occasion. Many parents were in the audience and they thoroughly enjoyed the ‘oasis of calm’ which these concerts have become!
Chamber Choir sing Evensong at Keble College, Oxford
Last Wednesday our Chamber Choir joined forces with Stowe School’s Chapel Choir to sing Evensong at Keble College, Oxford. As a school, we have been attending the Stowe Schools’ Choral Festival for the last 12 years and our choir has always made a tremendous impression. As a result, we received a special invitation from the Director of Music at Stowe to go and work exclusively with their choir and sing at an Oxford College. Our day started with rehearsals at Stowe in their amazing new Music School. After a visit to the tuck shop mid-afternoon we set off to drive up to Oxford. There was great excitement on our arrival as we took in the wonder of the buildings which make up Keble College. The chapel is awe-inspiring and beautifully ornate. We organised the seating positions and practised processing in and out of the chapel before going into the final rehearsal. The service started at 6.00pm. The sound was truly stunning as the acoustic in the chapel enhanced the rich, pure tone of the choirs. The repertoire which we had chosen was quite demanding and challenging; it certainly took many of our children out of their comfort zone! Our choir rose to the occasion and performed superbly. Francesca Banks was the soloist in the Magnificat in G by Stanford and gave a thrilling performance. This was a truly amazing experience and a very special event. Well done to all of our choristers on their hard work and wonderful achievement. It is a precious memory which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Videos of the Chamber Choirs performance can be seen by following these links: Cundall Manor at Keble College Part 1; Cundall Manor at Keble College Part 2
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.
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.