Creative Arts

Art & Photography By Mr Iain Young, Head of Art In Art and Photography the Michaelmas Term was as busy as ever, although inevitably some COVID-related changes were necessary.

Not all were unwelcome; the coursework deadline for both A Level and GCSE students was pushed back to the end of the Lent Term, avoiding the pressure of a Christmas rush for another year. Many Year 11 and Upper Sixth students took the opportunity to work on longer, more extended themes to make use of the extra time available.

In the Lower Sixth, Art students undertook commissions for work for the Health Centre and Sports departments, producing very large scale canvases which we hope to be installed soon after the beginning of the Lent Term. These large and ambitious works will be on permanent display for anyone who would like to see them. Photographers will be undertaking a similar exhibition project this term. Although foreign travel has not been possible this year, not all trips were cancelled. As restrictions relaxed during the Autumn, it was with great relish that the Sixth Form took their first Art trip

to London for some time. Visiting the Natural History Museum, the Saatchi Gallery and enjoying some street photography, pupils enjoyed a fine and pleasantly sunny day in the capital.

We plan to take GCSE pupils to the Tate Modern in the Lent Term and hopefully they too will enjoy a positive experience. Looking ahead, if travel to other countries becomes a little easier, we would very much like to offer a trip to New York again in 2023.

With Scholarship exams almost upon us, it is good to see a number of Dunbar pupils putting

themselves forward. We look forward to seeing both their portfolios and those of the external candidates in early February. Finally, we are all looking forward to a productive new year and to producing many more artworks ready for the Summer exhibition.

DT By Mr Craig Wiles,

Head of DT

This term the pupils have been able to undertake a range of workshop projects across all year groups.

The Sixth Form have experimented with silicone moulding, resin casting, spray painting and wood turning.

The department took the Sixth Form students on a trip to the Design Museum and the Natural History Museum to gain inspiration for their assessed project work.

Two pupils have been put forward for the prestigious Arkwright Engineering Scholarship, the largest national engineering scholarship of its kind, and we wish them the best of luck.

Music By Mr Chris McDade, Director of Music During the Michaelmas Term, many pupils continued to rehearse and perform in ensembles and, despite the additional restrictions imposed on musicians for indoor activities, we managed to fulfil almost all of our planned calendared events.

The exception to this was, of course, the much coveted Divisional Music Competition and we look forward to having this back in the annual Music calendar.

Informal Concerts

Pupils performed in two informal concerts during the term. The first event early in October enabled the performers to enjoy performing ‘live’ and the event was warmly received by a reduced, but appreciative audience. The second such concert was during enhanced restrictions and was, like so many events last term, recorded. Nonetheless, the standard of performing was consistently high and the concert was made available to view via the College’s YouTube Channel.

Michaelmas Concert

What was billed as our major event of the term was, like other events, recorded. However, this concert also gave larger ensembles the opportunity to perform and we welcomed both junior and senior solo musicians, as well as larger groups including the Chamber Choir, the Swing Band, and the Marching Band. With an eclectic mix of musical genres, the concert showcased many of the College’s outstanding musicians and it was fitting that, with many seasonal highlights

in the programme, this concert was aired just before the end of term.

Services

Always a highlight of the year, we have continued to rehearse and present music of the highest order and, while the rousing sounds of a full Chapel congregation in full voice have yet to return, nonetheless, both the College Choir and Chamber Choir have continued to lead the worship in our services. Highlights included some moving performances in the annual Remembrance Day service. While the Carol Service was very different to what we would usually expect to hear, it was equally uplifting to have the whole College community, accompanied by the Brass Ensemble, singing carols on the Quad at the end of term.

Trips and Visits

In November, the A Level musicians and Music Scholars enjoyed a visit to the Cadogan Hall, Sloane Square to hear a performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was good to be able to attend a ‘live gig’ again after so many months of watching these events online. With a well-known programme of Beethoven and Rachmaninov, the students and staff very much enjoyed this excellent concert by a first class

orchestra. Another trip is planned to the English National Opera in the Spring and these visits to see and hear world class musicians will now be a permanent feature of the Music Scholar’s Enrichment programme.

Visiting Music Teachers

It has continued to be a challenging time for Visiting Music Teachers and I have been so very grateful to my colleagues in the department for their hard work and perseverance in their delivery of the one-to-one teaching programme. In what has been such a challenging time for the performing arts, their diligence and stoicism has enabled so many pupils to continue to learn to play a very broad range of instruments and I express my sincere thanks to them.

Practical Exam Success

Many pupils have continued to prepare for and take practical music examinations offered by the ABRSM, Trinity and RockSchool during the term and we have celebrated many successes. It has been good to see the range of both advanced and less experienced musicians taking these grades, which have all been, by necessity, recorded exams and my thanks especially goes to Mr Andrew Thornhill for his technical expertise and time in recording these performances, and for the many hours spent uploading them to the exam board sites. While this facility has enabled so many pupils to continue to take graded exams, we are also looking forward to returning to some face to face sessions later this year!

Drama By Ms Rebecca Atack, Head of Drama The Drama Department was busy in the Michaelmas Term. We started the year with auditions for the College production, ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens.

This was a new adaptation of the infamous novel, written and directed by Miss Rhiannon Bland. We ended up with a cast of 26 and five pupils

crewing the show. It will be performed in Drake Hall in front of parents and pupils before the February half-term break. It will be wonderful to be able to perform to a full in-person audience, at last! of Nutting’. Nutting is a town where nothing extraordinary happens until it’s too late and, of course, it is full of Nutters!

We did have a high absence rate in both 7B and 8A but the pupils coped beautifully. The pupils had great fun with their ensemble performances and it was a lovely way to end the term.

In Year 9, our pupils have been exploring ‘Face’ by Benjamin Zephaniah and their production of this play will be in Drake hall on Thursday 10 March.

We ended the term on a high with the livestreaming of the Dunbar production. It was made up of three plays: Form 7A kicked the afternoon off with ‘The Guru of Nutting’; Form 7B followed with ‘The Guru of Nutting Returns’; and both Form 8A & and Form 8B rounded off the occasion with their wonderful performance of ‘The Witch We also welcomed our very first Visiting Drama Teacher, Mrs Deborah Fallon, in September. She visits once a week and is currently preparing 13 pupils for their Trinity Drama, London exams. The grades range from 4 to 7 and we hope they will ‘break a leg’ when the external examiner visits on 17 March. It is proving very popular and we look forward to welcoming more pupils to the department as time goes by.