Carol Service Ripon Cathedral
On Monday evening, the whole school came together with family and friends at Ripon Cathedral for the annual service of carols and readings. This is always a very special occasion, made more so this year by the superb singing of the Chamber Choir and wonderful performances by Francesca Banks, whose solo of Once in Royal David’s City filled the cathedral; Sarah Sullivan for an assured duet with singing teacher Paula Dunford, and Alannah Creed, soloist in the choir’s rendition of ‘Torches’. Thank you also to all parents and staff who sang alongside the Chamber Choir; the sound really was magnificent.
Waterbabies Christmas Coffee Morning
We were delighted to host the inaugural Waterbabies Coffee Morning at Cundall recently. Waterbabies use our pool for their parent and toddler swimming lessons and it was lovely to be able to welcome them into the warmth of the library to enjoy Christmassy refreshments and entertainment after their pool session. Our Pre-Prep House Captains were brilliant waiters and waitresses, Mr Bayne delighted the children with his Father Christmas balloon models and our Junior Choir’s festive performance wowed all our guests.
Friday’s Lunchtime Concert
What a wonderful atmosphere there was in the church last Friday for our Lunchtime concert. Many parents and friends gathered to hear our young musicians performing (some of them for the first time) in an informal and friendly environment. It was lovely to see so many of the performers’ friends in the audience offering their support. There were some very fine performances and, for a few, it was good preparation for their music exams which take place this week. The visitors who met in the library afterwards were extremely appreciative and had thoroughly enjoyed all of the music. It was rather cold in the church which added to the stress for some! Others coped well with sore throats and colds, which is not easy when singing!
Form 3 experience the BBC’s Ten Pieces
Form 3 has recently visited The Ritz Cinema in Thirsk to watch a new BBC film called Ten Pieces. This is an inventive and immersive film with the mission of inspiring a generation of children, mixing performance, live action and animation to explore the wonders of classical music. One of the key aims of the Ten Pieces project is to encourage children to develop their own creative responses to the classical music they hear in the film. Form 3 have already been studying and writing their own pieces of “Machine Music” this term, tying in with one of the pieces in the film, John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine. We look forward to planning further follow-up projects and using the DVD version of the film to inspire future lessons.
Mr Ball’s Brass Demonstration
The whole school enjoyed a lively demonstration, by peripatetic music teacher Mr Ball, of the wonderful array of instruments available to learn at school. Mr Ball started with the smallest instrument of the family, the trumpet, before working through the cornet, baritone horn, trombone and tuba. His demonstration of each instrument showed how its role in an orchestra or ensemble can influence the decision which instrument to learn: the higher pitched trumpet, cornet and baritone horn often carry the melody of a piece of music whilst the huge and very deep tuba takes the bassline. The trombone is the loudest instrument of the brass family and lends itself perfectly to big band and jazz numbers. Mr Ball was ably assisted in his demonstration by Archie Powell whose super duet with Mr Ball showcased Archie’s wonderfully miniaturised ‘pocket trumpet’. Any pupil wishing to take up music lessons with Mr Ball, even just on a trial basis, should contactMrs Fordin the Music Department.
September Lunchtime Concert
What a great start to our concert series this year. Many congratulations to all of our musicians who performed on Friday. It was very early in the term to ask people to perform, but we were treated to a wonderful and varied programme and it was so exciting to see the enthusiasm and talent of so many of our children. It was lovely to have so many parents, grandparents and friends with us in the church and also to see quite a large number of children who came along to hear and support their friends. Once again, for some children it was their very first performance and the sense of achievement and pride afterwards was evident for all to see! We were lucky enough to hear a world-premiere of Hattie Attwood and Poppy Edwards’ own composition ‘Rings on their Fingers’ which was full of energy and joy! We also had an introduction to the amazing Chinese instrument the guzheng, with a virtuosic performance by Gabriella Lei. Well done and thanks to you all. The comments from parents and visitors afterwards were hugely complimentary and you made many people extremely happy!
Form 6 Review
Good Morning Cundall! Britain’s first ever school breakfast television show was hosted by the incredibly cool, calm and collected Imani Botham and Oliver Hartman last Thursday night. In a clever twist to the Form 6 review presentation, pupils used the morning TV show format as a vehicle to connect a series of hilarious sketches that both parodied the rather over-enthusiastic genre and certain members of long suffering staff! As is tradition, many of the sketches featured a collection of much loved teachers placed in a rather compromising situation such as ‘The Island’, a reality TV programme that introduced a rather excitable character called Bear Bains (sound familiar?), and featured Romey Dawson as Miss Baggaley, Hamish Mainey as Mr Vale and Teagan McIntosh as Senorita to name but a few, all battling it out to survive the hostile environment. We were treated to a lecture about the importance of the water molecule from Josh Johnson playing Mr Smith and a rather hungry and therefore dangerous Mr Sample, played by Fraser McPhearson in a stunning wig. In a comical take-off of a Party Political Broadcast, staff vied for dominance, with Miss Kuit (Jemima Telfer) proposing that Latin should become the only language spoken at school and any dissenters were to be thrown to the lions! And who could forget Monty Powell who spoke for The Headmaster’s Party and Hugh Whitworth for the History Party; both had the audience in stitches. To add to the mayhem, there was a random dance performance of YMCA and to cap it all off Form 6 sang a moving and completely adulterated version of Mama Mia! Overall, a good time was had by all and many pupils expressed how much they had enjoyed being so creative in such a short time. Many thanks to the all the good sports who were gently ribbed; Form 6 wouldn’t be able to do it without you!
Music and Drama evening
Last Thursday evening we presented a Music and Drama Evening in the school gym. We had planned simply to have an evening of light-hearted fun and that is exactly what it was! However, for the children from forms 4 and 5 who formed the cast of the play ‘The Happiest Days Of Your Life’ it was rather tense and stressful just before they went on stage. These children had opted for Drama as their Tuesday enrichment for the summer term and had therefore only had a very short time to put the play together. It was a farce about two schools in the 1940s who suddenly were forced to share their facilities – a boys’ school and a girls’ school! It is a very funny play and the pupils presented it superbly. They delivered their lines with skill and conviction and threw themselves into their characters. Their comic timing was good and the audience became completely involved. Well done to all of the cast and a special mention to James Hepden who was drafted in at the very last minute due to illness. He played the part of the vicar and was hilarious.
Lunchtime concert
Well done to all of our performers who took part in the concert last Friday. There was a great range of musical styles and combination of different instruments, including our first ever solo double bass performance and our first form 1 pupil to sing and accompany herself on the guitar. Once again, we had pupils from right across the school and everyone was excited by the wonderful talent on display and the obvious potential of many of our children. There was a super atmosphere in the church and some lovely comments were made by the audience afterwards. Congratulations to all!
Form 3 Production “The Big Ship Sails”
On Wednesday 21st May, Form 3 took to the stage at the Galtres Centre to perform ‘The Big Ship Sails’. The play was an account of the child migration scheme that took children from Britain to other countries (such as Australia and Canada) to boost the population there. The play dealt with some very grown up issues and was a challenge for such young actors. The children’s performance was magnificent, with each child demonstrating not only an ability to learn and deliver lines, but also the awareness of the audience and the subject matter. This meant that they delivered an emotional play with class, worthy of any year group. The staff and parents were all very proud of them and we look forward to seeing their acting develop in future productions.