School News: Christmas Crackers

ROYAL HOSPITAL SCHOOL, HOLBROOK

Pupils at the Royal Hospital School are expounding their commitment to eco-sustainability in the run up to Christmas.

The school’s eco-committee made up of pupils across the year groups, have collected in the region of 1,000 plastic water bottles in less than two weeks and used these to create a Christmas tree to raise awareness around reliance on plastic waste. The tree has pride position in the school’s dining hall for the whole school community to see. In addition to the tree, the Eco-committee have also decorated the main school corridor with an under-the-water style display highlighting the types of ocean pollution that impact on waters around the world.

Mrs Izod Miller, Head of Geography and the Eco-Committee, said ‘Far too often we underestimate the power of individual actions, we hear cries of ‘what can I do to make a difference?’, ‘how much impact can I really have’?’

‘This project aims to raise awareness of our need to be more sustainable and the vast amount of single-use plastic in our lives. The displays are designed to be a statement, a reminder of the true cost of plastic on our environment and the massive impact a few individuals can have.’

‘I am immensely proud of the tireless efforts of the eco-Committee, especially project leads Finn Corcoran and Alistair Ng and the Design and Technology Department who helped to make the vision a reality.’

The Royal Hospital School is a Suffolk Carbon Charter Gold Award holder in recognition of the efforts made towards carbon reduction measures.

HOE BRIDGE SCHOOL, SURREY

‘Wow!’ was the first thing pupils and parents said on Friday morning (1st December) as they arrived to a transformed Pre-Prep at Hoe Bridge School. Mums and Dads on the Parents’ Circle committee worked late into the evening on Thursday to make the school look Christmassy for Friday morning.

The front of the school was transformed to make it look like Santa’s Workshop, allowing the festive magic to flow and kickstart the school’s festive celebrations. Hoe Bridge are definitely topping the charts for the best decorated school that School House has seen so far!

OAKWOOD PREP SCHOOL, WEST SUSSEX

Oakwood School in Chichester has teamed up with the organisers of the nearby Emsworth Community Christmas to host a new community event within the school’s local area of Funtington, opening its doors to people who may be alone and would enjoy Christmas Day in the company of others. Funtington Community Christmas will be hosted at Oakwood School and will be open to anyone who may otherwise be lonely on Christmas Day – young or old.

Clare Bradbury, Headteacher at Oakwood School, said, ‘We are at the heart of the community here in Funtington and it made absolute sense to support this wonderful initiative and offer the school as a venue.’

‘Many of our staff, families and friends will be involved in the preparation and running of the day, helping to make Christmas Day a day to remember –  we will even watch the Queen’s Speech together!’

From now until the Christmas Day event, the team will be busy fundraising and there is a JustGiving page set up for anyone wishing to donate, accessed from the Funtington Community Christmas page on Facebook.  Money raised will be spent on transport, fresh produce, Christmas decorations and gifts for the guests.

COBHAM HALL, KENT

Cobham Hall’s Chamber Choir, Benesonantes, have been performing their repertoire of Christmas Carols for the community this Christmas. They have shared festive cheer with residents at Cobham College Retirement Home, visitors to Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s popular Southbank, and shoppers at nearby Bluewater, where they performed with Cobham Ladies Choir, raising over £300 for The Molly McLaren Foundation.  They also joined with Cobham Ladies Choir for a Carol Service in the School’s Gilt Hall for over 170 members of the local community.  One attendee commented,

‘I had great pleasure listening to the exquisite sound coming from your pitch perfect choir. I was particularly impressed when the piano came later in the piece and the choir was spot on.’

They also found time to record their collection for a Christmas CD – ‘A Very Cobham Christmas’, which was on sale at the School Christmas Fair, and will be available when the girls tour Budapest at the end of term.

Head of Music Miss Clements commended the choir saying, “The girls worked tirelessly to prepare a wide variety of repertoire for all these events. The team spirit between the girls is amazing and makes the time they spend together all the more fun, because they trust each other, and this enables them all to have confidence in concerts.

RYDAL RENRHOS SCHOOL, WALES

Talented singers at Rydal Penrhos have been spreading some Christmas cheer across a number of sites across the region this week.

The choir, which consisted of both prep and senior pupils, took part in three special carol singing sessions across three venues on Monday, December 17.

Shoppers at the Victoria Centre in Llandudno were greeted with a variety of festive carols on the tour’s first stop, where the group were also raising money for charity via collection boxes.

This included a stunning rendition of the Mariah Carey hit ‘All I want for Christmas’ by Lower Sixth Form pupil Zahra Shamsi, before the contingent moved on to Merton Place Residential Home in Colwyn Bay.

During their second stint, the group sang various carols including Little Donkey and 12 days of Christmas, with Arthur Hind, Darcie Harker-Weston, Hannah Davies and Urdd National Eisteddfod winner Tegid Goodman-Jones also lending their support with outstanding solo efforts.

The final venue was Redcroft Nursing Home, situated on Alexandra Road, where they thrilled a large audience to round off a very successful day.

This is something we have done for a number of years now and it was another fantastic way to bring some Christmas cheer to the community. I would like to thank each member of the choir for their attitude, dedication and commitment to what was a tiring day for them, but they handled themselves impeccably and hopefully got a lot out of the experience themselves.

Director of Music Pete Williams

READ MORE: Setting an Example: Schools Reducing Plastic Pollution