On Monday 12th December, the Assembly Hall was filled to the brim for the Christmas Concert, the first unrestricted one since 2019. The evening opened with the RSD Band, who played carols that the audience were encouraged to stand and sing for, before continuing the concert with ‘Joyous Yuletide’ and festive favourite ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. 

The Junior Ensemble took the stage next and performed a rendition of ‘Little Drummer Boy’ with ukuleles and tin whistles, and then Rebecca Verner, a Year 14 pupil, sang a beautiful solo of ‘O Holy Night’, wowing the audience with her impressive vocal range. 

The Junior Choir performed two pieces: a more traditional piece called ‘The Colours Of Christmas’, and a medley of songs from ‘Muppet Christmas Carol’. The two songs were quite different in tone, with the former being more sombre and the latter a more cheerful tune, but the choir pulled off both styles really well and the audience enjoyed the whole performance. 

Actin Au and Isaac Leung (Y11) played a duet, ‘Where Are You Christmas’, with Actin on piano and Isaac on clarinet. Harold Ng (Year 13) helped the two out. 

Senior choir sang ‘Run To The Manger’, a gospel piece, and ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’, the Christmas classic with a swing twist. The choir had lots of fun performing these and the audience could tell! 

The Senior Ensemble consisted of Mr Cuddy, who played piano, and Harry Hayes (Year 14), who played the flute. They played a piece called ‘Christmas Song’. 

This year a new ensemble was introduced, a smaller Sixth Form Choir composed of around 20 pupils. For their debut performance, they sang a rendition of ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’ by Sam Smith. 

Last, but certainly not least, Junior Drama performed an abridged version of Mary Poppins in 3 sections, with each section bringing a fresh cast of pupils to the stage as they portrayed the adventures of the Banks family, the titular Mary Poppins and the people they meet on their adventures. Over 40 pupils were on stage performing throughout the production, supported by teachers and Sixth Form pupils in the props, music, costumes and backstage departments. Everyone had worked really hard throughout the whole term to bring the performance together and the closing number ‘Let’s Go Fly A Kite’ was an uplifting way to end the evening. 

Thanks to everyone who took part in either the music or drama sections. Special thanks to Bradley Henderson for capturing the evening so beautifully – we hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as we do!