Year 10 Trip to Walsingham

by Year 10 students Amalia SV and Elanaz M

The main focus of pilgrimage is the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham which remembers the vision of the Saxon noblewoman, Richeldis de Faverches. In this vision Richeldis was taken to Mary’s home in Nazareth and saw Gabriel promise Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Mary asked Richeldis to build a replica of the house in Nazareth, which now lies in Walsingham.

The trip enabled us to explore a variety of churches in Walsingham, including Methodist, Roman Catholic and Russian orthodox. This helped us develop a clearer understanding of these denominations by being able to visually observe how differences in belief are reflected in the physical features of the Churches. For example, the Russian Orthodox chapel of St Seraphim was very small and filled with brightly coloured icons. However, we were surprised by the exterior of the Methodist Church which resembled a simple house, and did not have icons or stained glass. After visiting all the different churches, we returned to the main Saint Mary & All Saints Church and visited the Holy House. This is a replica of Jesus’ house in Nazareth and is therefore considered a space of great importance and spiritual focus.

In the Holy House, we lit candles and made a prayer in order to experience what pilgrims might do when they visit. Experiencing this gave us a better understanding why people specifically come to Walsingham to pray in order to focus better on prayer when in a holy and meaningful place. The last thing we did was take part in a sprinkling service (unique to Walsingham) at the Holy Well. There was first a short service which was led by a priest and included communal prayer. Then, we congregated at the Holy Well where the priest blessed those that wanted it with holy water. He offered us a sip to drink and then marked the sign of the cross on our forehead and poured some into our hand. The water is believed to have miraculous healing powers and the sprinkling reminds pilgrims of the gift of life and the generosity of God’s love. This service was very exciting to be a part of and gave us an interesting insight into the personal importance of Walsingham for pilgrims.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and we all came back with an in-depth understanding of Christian practices that surpasses what we could have learnt in the classroom.

Music

Jazz on a Summer’s Evening

The school musical year came to an upbeat and energetic close with Jazz on a Summer’s Evening on Friday 16 June.

Around 100 students took part, singing and playing an incredible 36 items in a wide range of popular styles. The first half featured a number of our larger groups: Big Band, Concert Strings, Brass Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Years 7-9 Upper Voices Choir, The Singers, Boys’ Choir and Changing Voices Choir and some rock bands, performing pieces including Eye of the Tiger, Rock Around the Clock, Over the Rainbow, a nd even some Black Sabbath!

We were very lucky with the weather this year and the second half proceeded as planned outside with refreshments, whilst a vast array of soloists from all years of the school serenaded us with items including Build me up Buttercup, One Direction’s What makes you Beautiful and Lovely by Billie Eilish. An increasing number of our students write and perform their own songs both within and beyond their class music lessons, and a number of these were also performed, with great confidence and to great acclaim from the audience, who filled all corners of the Activity Space.