V OLUME 1 , ISSUE 3 8
MARCH 2016
Glenthorne High School Specialist Arts College
Arts College Update
Sutton Youth Exhibition is an opportunity for the schools of the borough to celebrate the artistic creativity of their pupils. Each school presents a selection of work from Year 7 up to Year 13. This exhibition was open to the public in the entrance area of Sutton library from the 27th January to 9th February 2016. On Thursday 28th January, the preview of the exhibition took place. This saw teachers, pupils, parents and local MPs gather to celebrate the work of the pupils. Glenthorne High school support was out in force, with our crowd making up half the audience. Lord Tope presented a series of awards for outstanding work with Rosetta Galea, Year 9 and Sachin Patel, Year 11 being selected as part of the prize winners. All pupils who took part should be extremely proud of themselves as the exhibition was a roaring success!
Jack Petchy - Speak Out The Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge is the largest speaking competition for young people in the world. It gives students the opportunity to talk openly and honestly about any subject they feel strongly about. On 1st February, a group of Year 10 students were visited by a trainer from the Jack Petchey Foundation. He led a fantastic workshop to help lead our students to success in the competition. From introducing themselves in an unusual fashion to telling anecdotes about memories from their past that meant something to them, students were taken out of their comfort zone throughout the day. However, they thrived under the pressure and the day culminated in each student making a speech on a topic they felt strongly about; without notes or prompts this was quite a test. By the end of the day we had three winners. However, the challenge didn’t end there. These three students: Aaliyah Morrell, Labeed Mirza and Julia Laming, now had to go forward to the next round of the competition. This involves saying their speech in a Year group assembly. Despite their nerves, all three rose magnificently to the challenge. However, one speech stood out above the rest. Discussing issues of gender inequality in our society, Aaliyah Morrell’s passionate and powerful rhetoric and delivery took her through to the regional finals. Despite an inspiring and spectacular performance on the night of the final, sadly Aaliyah just missed out on a place in the top three. However, we are extremely proud of her exceptional presentation representing the school.
Whole School Production
Annie In the week beginning Monday 8th February, parents, pupils and teachers alike waited with baited breath in anticipation of the annual Glenthorne whole school production, which was sure to be another resounding success. Pupils and staff had been working tirelessly in the months leading up to the production to ensure that everything ran smoothly, from putting together the set to rehearsing the songs and choreography. As the curtains opened the audience caught a glimpse of all the preparations and dedication that had been put into the show, and an enthralling, emotive and jubilant performance commenced, taking the audience on an emotional journey from the torment and austerity of the orphanage to the awe and wonder of the Warbuck’s mansion. The production showcased the vast range of talent that can be seen at Glenthorne. Dance, Music and Drama all came together to produce a show filled with singing, dancing and acting that took the audience back to the 1930s and brought the classic musical to life. Not only did the performance display the ability of the older students, who usually take a prominent role in whole school productions, but it also highlighted the immense talent of the KS3 pupils who got an opportunity to play some of the principal roles. Meanwhile, the Art department produced a marvellous skyline of New York and the Technical Theatre Company produced the set to accommodate the range of locations throughout the production from the orphanage to the mansion and even the streets of NYC. Noteworthy performances include the incredible singing voice of Hermione Banyon as Annie, Lauren James as the spiteful Miss Hannigan, Dan Davison as billionaire Mr Warbucks, to name just a few. The entire cast and crew had evidently put huge amounts of effort into the show and the lighting, costumes, set and music brought the performance to life. All the parents and pupils that came to see the show in support of the cast thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks to the incredible hard work of everyone involved to stage the fantastic production.
KS3 Singers at Voice in a Million Concert Wembley SSE Arena 3rd March 2016 An event that had been planned and anticipated for almost a year finally came to fruition! 30 pupils from the KS3 singers choir made their way to Wembley Arena after getting changed out of their World Book day outfits! Upon arriving there were some rehearsals in their seats so all of the songs could be recapped and some new movements could be learnt. By this point we were all very excited and the choir were especially looking forward to seeing Hermione Banyon who was part of the VIAM stage choir and of course the special guests including Charlie Beard, Callum Scott and Bars and Melody! The concert itself was really special, with a range of songs being performed by the choir including ‘Rather Be’, ‘I believe I can fly’, ‘Hold my Hand’ and ‘I would walk 500 miles’! Many of our singers parents came to watch the concert and had great seats in the middle of the arena so they could see their child perform. I’m sure they would agree on how fantastic an evening it was and a really great showcase of talent across the age range. Even though it was a late finish the whole choir really gave it their all and were excellent representatives of Glenthorne. I’m sure they will be back at Wembley again in 2017!
The BBC School Report celebrated its 10th anniversary and Glenthorne High School was again fully involved in the proceedings. All Year 8 students got a flavour of the day through their English lessons, working on condensing news stories to create headlines and then recording their own news introductions. A smaller number of students were off timetable all day to put together a video report. The story this year was about the new hub being built in the school and the question of whether a new library is necessary in the digital age. The video report is the best ever produced by the school, showing a good understanding of the conventions but also a high level of creativity. Thanks to all of the students who participated and thanks to Chris Jupp and Miss Wilson for their fantastic help throughout the day. Special thank you to Mr. Jays for his unwavering commitment to meeting the strict report deadline!
Gamelan & Samba Workshops Earlier this term, each Year 7 class received a one hour workshop based on Indonesian Gamelan music. The pupils had the opportunity to use authentic instruments from the islands of Bali and Java that consist of numerous gongs and metallophones. The pupils developed their understanding and appreciation of music unique to another culture and learnt that music in Indonesia is taught through memorization, mnemonics, phrasing and pulse. At the same time, Year 8 classes received workshops based on the samba music of Brazil. Pupils had the opportunity to perform on the deep pounding surdo drums with syncopated overlayered sounds comprising of an assortment of percussive instruments to create an amazing carnival sound. They learnt a traditional piece of Brazilian samba music and the roles of the different instruments. They performed a variety of patterns, breaks and rhythmic responses that developed both their rhythmic and ensemble skills.
IMMERSION DAYS The Black Death. Not exactly the most joyful theme for an immersion day, but it was a very interesting one all the same. Year 7s were off timetable on Thursday 10th March and Friday 11th March to learn everything about The Black Death. Students travelled back to the time of the bubonic plague in Drama, learned the hard facts in History, flexed their creative writing skills in English and danced the Black Death away in Dance. Students also took part in a team building challenge with their form group. Students were asked to work in form groups to create one of a kind Elizabethan costumes out of newspapers. Overall it was an exciting two days, with lots learned and explored. Year 8 students were off timetable on the 17th and 18th of March to explore Architecture concepts. Students were immersed in Art, Media Studies, Design and Technology, Science and Maths to learn about important architecture principles and styles. All the sessions had a very practical nature to them. Students explored the important of setting and architecture in films by editing together their own haunted house in Media Studies. Students flexed their engineering muscles in Science, building bridges out of spaghetti.
Design Technology saw a sweet take on the theme of the day with students building things from marshmallows. Mathematics has students working out the measurements as well as shapes in architecture and Art built structures using sticks and blu tack.
Arts College Update
Being a student of the Music Academy has been a fantastic experience and has been an eye opener into the processes of the music industry. Over our time in the academy, we have learnt many new things which we would never have encountered in a standard music lesson. For example, we have learnt how to improvise within a group, play in many different styles, how to organise and produce an event. Due to the mix of year 12 and 13s it has allowed us to form social connections with many other talented musicians within the school allowing us to learn more from them, and to call on their talents for our own projects. It has been great! By Tom Featherstone & Rebecca Jensen Drama Academy have just completed an exciting Theatre in Education project performed for Year 8 students. At the start of the Spring term the Drama academy were presented with their new task, to research, create and develop a performance based on cyber bullying to get Year 8 thinking about the after effects of cyber bullying and the culture of banter in today’s society. Throughout the project the academy talked to a number of Year 8 students as well as members of staff from the pastoral team across the school. They also created a questionnaire which was answered by the whole of Year 8. The group used this research to create a performance. On the 21st March four Year 8 forms entered PDH to be surrounded by the performers, throughout the event, not only did they watch what was happening, but they had an important role in deciding how the performance would end as they followed Reece, a character who was dealing with cyber bullying. The performance was a great success with lots of positive feedback from the Year 8 students. The Drama academy will complete this project with a follow up activity with the forms who watched the performance. Dance Academy pupils have been working hard and tackling a number of different techniques lately. With Shaun Dillon of Dillon Dance, Year 12 have been working on contact improvisation technique. This is a very mature technique which the pupils have approached in an excellent fashion. Year 13 have been working with Natalie Watson on the really different lyrical jazz. This has really developed their range of styles and adaptability for the future.
Music Spring Concert Glenthorne High School’s annual Spring Concert took place in the school hall on Thursday 16th March at 6 o’clock. The audience were treated to a very high standard of performance from all of the musicians involved. A particular highlight of the evening was the range of repertoire performed. The school ensembles each performed on their own (Jazz Band, KS3 Singers, Community choir, Chamber Choir, and ArtsOne Rocks!). In addition to this, the following pupils performed solos to a very high standard: Isabella Siddall (Voice), Sif Neilsen (Clarinet), Merlie-Ann Sebastian (Voice), and Isabel Martin (Saxophone). The concert allowed pupils to showcase their talents and to gain experience of performing in public. A number of awards in the form of Spotify gift vouchers were awarded to certain individuals for their outstanding effort in music. These pupils were Isabella Siddall, Zak Aiken-Simon, and Erik Turk. Well done to all involved.
Junior Ready Steady Light On Saturday 19th March, five Glenthorne pupils (Jack Gunesh, Charlie Kennedy, Chloe Pitts, Mark Nagy and Bradley Bywater) travelled to Rose Bruford College, Sidcup, to compete in Junior Ready Steady Light. The team had to light up a building on the Rose Bruford Site. Their brief was to merge nature into man made items. So the team decided to illuminate a large tree next to one of the original buildings on the site, and also light up the building next to it in blue, to show the sky and sea’s, yellow, to show the sun rise and sun set, and green to show nature, due to the saying ‘green thumb’. To help, they had to take part in 4 workshops. The first one was about colour and how colour gels can affect the colour output and when dimmed in brightness. The second one was about what type of light they could use, so for example flood lights, LED Bars and Pin Spots. Then the third was about architecture lighting and how lighting technicians for the Olympic Stadium could create a high tech lighting system so the TV cameras could record HD pictures. The fourth, being about how to light a scene in a different mood, so colours and angles can show mood and time of day. After darkness fell, and intense judging, they were given their result. The Glenthorne team came third out of five teams.
Key Stage three selected students in Drama, Dance & Music have participated in a varied selection of workshops this term. These have included a ‘Junk’ instrument session led by a practitioner from the Street Style Surgery; pupils got to make their own instruments from ‘Junk’ materials and were able to play as part of a ‘Junk’ orchestra! Other workshops were based on choreography work, pupils learnt how to choreograph their own piece of dance and perform to others in the group. Drama workshops taught pupils the techniques required to be able to project their voices on stage. Many of our KS3 selected students made use of their newly gained skills whilst performing in our whole school production of Annie! We look forward to the summer term programme of workshops for selected pupils and their continued development of skills within the arts. Junior Performance Group The Year 7 and 8 selected dancers were proud to represent the Borough of Sutton in the London Youth Games Dance competition 2016. The company gave a stunning and unique performance of ‘toys coming to life’ at the Copper Box arena - Olympic Park, East London. The performance stood out as being unique in the midst of 24 entries, varied both in style and theme. The students were praised on their professionalism and maturity both throughout the day and during the performance, as well as outstanding performance skills. Each student came away from the event inspired and excited by the dance culture that exists in London and clearly determined to return fighting next year. Arts College Update
Film Studies student accepted onto BFI Film Academy course A Level Film Studies student Holly Eysellinck will be spending 10 days of the Easter holidays making a short film after being accepted onto the prestigious residential film academy scheme. The BFI Film Academy course was set up a few years ago to aim to provide opportunities for the best film-making talent so it is a fantastic achievement that Holly was selected based largely on spending Saturdays throughout the Autumn term doing the Regional Film Workshops. The course will be led by professional film directors and Higher Education film academics. She will be based in Buckinghamshire at the National Film and Television School and at the end of the 10 day workshop her film will be screened at the British Film Institute in London.
ArtsOne Rocks! Presents: Best of MJ On Saturday the 5th March ArtsOne Rocks! sported their white-gloved, zombie shuffling, hip thrusting alter egos in their performance of Best of MJ at Bourne Hall in Ewell. After months of hard work and training, I think it’s fair to say it paid off when an audience of 300 people showed up! Along with some fantastic pre-show acts from our session one bands who performed their original compositions and our very own GHS Music Academy performing their own arrangement of traditional folk songs for their Level 3 BTEC in Popular Music, the audience were left stunned when the pupils performed some of MJ's greatest hits, such as Billie Jean, ABC, Beat It and Earth Song. It was such a delight to be a part of such an incredible show and I look forward to seeing what ArtsOne Rocks comes up with next year! By Emilly Roberts
(Year 13)
In the last few weeks, session one has been focusing on songwriting. We have worked with the ArtsOne Rocks staff to explore different songwriting techniques and methods to develop our own original compositions. We performed them to the 'fans' of A1R! at the session 2 Best of MJ showcase on the 5th March as part of the warmup show. The night included absolutely incredible songs such as ‘Thriller’, ‘Bad’ and no one could forget ‘ABC’. It was fantastic! We hope to continue with the A1R legacy and we will most definitely be having another performance extremely soon! Over the past two weeks, we have been recording our songs in the school's recording studio and gaining experience of what it is like to be a recording artist. We hope to be able to release these songs on the school Sound Cloud account in the coming weeks. By Alfie Simmons (Year 9) We are delighted to announce that Year 13 Drama students Jay Johnson and Lauren James have been offered places at incredibly prestigious Drama schools, Arts Ed and Bird College, once they finish their studies at Glenthorne later this year. Both students had to complete incredibly challenging auditions to gain their places, in which they took part in individual interviews and group workshops as well as complete prepared monologues and songs. Jay has been accepted to Arts Ed to complete a BA (hons) degree in Acting, gaining one of only 15 places for which 800 boys had auditioned. He will join a many successful alumni including Martin Clunes, Hugo Speer and Julie Andrews. Lauren will join countless stars of the West End stage as she walks through the doors of Bird College in South East London. She is incredibly pleased to have been offered a place on the Musical Theatre foundation course which will open up many doors for her in the future. Both students have worked incredibly hard for their successes and we wish them both the best of luck for their future training. Arts College Update Arts College Update
A Level Music recitals A Level Music pupils have been preparing for their final recitals this term. For year 12 pupils they have to perform for 5-7minutes, whereas year 13 need to to play for 12-15minutes on their principle instrument. Pupils have to plan their performance ensuring there is a theme within the recital. Many, many hours have been dedicated to perfecting performances. Good luck to all music pupils, particularly to year 13 for whom it will be their final examined performance in their Glenthorne career. Thank you to all music staff who have spent hours rehearsing with these pupils.
Vocal Success! On Saturday 12th March, Amelia Langley (Yr11) and Libby Martin (Yr13) took part in the Coulsdon & Purley Singing competition and won their classes. We are very proud of this success and grateful to our vocal tutor, Eleanor Nicolaou, for putting them forward for this amazing opportunity. Dance Success! Ten Year 12 and 13 pupils have been successful in auditioning for the A-D-1 Principles Edinburgh Fringe Festival company. Dillon Dance is working on the piece and it promises to be a fanatic performance of 40 minutes including a whole group piece and a trio of selected dancers. Congratulations to the following pupils who have been offered the following Dance places: Charlie Hogan – Northern School of Contemporary Dance Aimee Dulake – Laban Max Gershon - Laban On Saturday 27th February, The Glenthorne Music Department had the opportunity to perform at the Music For Youth Regional Festival in Sutton. Music for Youth is a music education charity providing performance opportunities to young musicians across the UK. Ensembles from Glenthorne made up nearly half of all the ensembles at the event and saw performances from Arts One Rock, The Glenthorne Jazz Band, KS3 Singers and the Chamber Choir. Students received valuable feedback from a panel of expert musicians and channelled this feedback into preparations for the Spring Concert. A massive congratulations to all the students who took part and put so much hard work into preparing for this event.