8 minute read
Drama
Our new Subject Leader of Drama, Mr Dameon Garnett, joined St Columba’s in September 2021.
What are you most looking forward to, as Subject Leader of Drama at St Columba’s?
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There’s already a tradition of outstanding productions and musicals at St Columba’s, and I’m looking forward to developing this further. One of my ambitions is to establish Drama as both a curriculum and examination subject, and it’s exciting to see both GCSE and A Level Drama and Theatre emerge on to the timetable, particularly as the College moves to co-education.
What are the benefits of studying Drama?
A key benefit is the confidence it can give at interviews and in life generally. Some of my former A Level students have gone on to study at Cambridge, Bristol, Warwick and Imperial, covering a range of subjects from English, Law and Medicine. Their passion for Drama proved to be a huge boost in the interview process and helped them to stand out from other candidates.
COVID-19 has brought challenges to our extra-curricular programme, as audiences have not been possible. Instead, we made a feature film of Alan Bennett’s version of ‘The Wind in the Willows’, hiring the help of a former BBC cameraman who had worked on established shows such as ‘Grange Hill’. The film production involved up to 25 students, from Forms 1 to 3.
The Drama Department is planning a production of Shakespeare’s Richard III, can you tell us more?
With the hope that things return to normal in the Michaelmas Term, we’re planning an abridged version of Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’. I hope it will be fun doing a production where the main character is such a rogue and a villain, and there should be a certain amount of comedy as well.
Acting in our film production of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ has been an amazing experience.
- Sam Geale, Form 2
The new Drama Studio is a purpose-built, black box space with LED lighting and a smoke machine to give students a taste of how actors work in professional theatre. Twitter: @StColumbasDrama
MUSIC
A CHANGING WORLD FOR MUSIC
As an independent school, St Columba’s College sees the importance of student performances and is able to offer a wide range of musical experiences. It is astounding, however, when you consider that the last time we were able to present a school music performance for an external audience was when we took the Schola to sing Evensong at St Albans Cathedral. That was mid-March 2020; and then a few days later the world changed. All scheduled, public performances from that point on had to be cancelled. For a music teacher, this is a strange state as a vast part of the department’s work is to encourage all students into exploring their creative abilities through music practice and performance.
A VIRTUAL WORLD FOR MUSIC
While at times during the year we engaged in online learning, we carried on with as much performance as possible, all virtually. This included College Recitals, Scholars’ Recitals, an adapted Eisteddfod, the Carol Service recorded in St Albans Cathedral, finishing up the year with a Summer Concert and the Chamber Orchestra performing at Prizegiving on the Iona lawn.
EXPANDING MUSIC
We wished some members of the Instrumental and Vocal Tuition Programme well on their future journeys, with the departure of Katie Seaton (voice), Florian Belbeoch (cello and double bass) and retirements of Birgitta Birchall (piano) and Julie Partridge (violin and viola). We were pleased to welcome to the team Oli Cuttriss (piano) and Grace Buttler (violin).
Those who follow the department’s Twitter feed will frequently see reference to #GreatMusic by #GreatStudents. This is an entirely apt descriptor for some of our most resilient musicians who, with our support, have continued to push their musical boundaries to gather advanced skills. Sam Balchin U6 joined the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music back in September 2020, while another of our students, Cameron Magson L6 was accepted to the Junior Academy of the Royal Academy of Music which commenced in September 2021. Both boys have been given a fantastic opportunity to rapidly advance their musical talents by attending these elite schools each Saturday, showing true dedication to the cause of their musicianship.
Continuing a pattern of musical excellence, we were pleased that two members of our Class of 2020 A Level Music group went off to study music: Luca Ellis to the University of Surrey to study Creative Music Technology and Neel Anand to Royal Holloway, studying joint honours Maths and Music. In September 2021, Aaron Barai (DJ Barai) of the Class of 2021 GCSE Music group, went to study a Level 3 Diploma in Music Performance, Production and Business at The Rhythm Studio Rock and Pop Academy.
This new academic year will hopefully herald a new beginning and we have been busy preparing for it. For St Columba’s College, it means admitting girls to Sixth Form and Lower Prep, while for the Music Department, we will have made a full move to new facilities in the Xavier Centre, which will allow us to expand and develop the College’s music provision offering even greater opportunities for enhanced musical learning and performance.
Lower Sixth student Cameron has been selected by the prestigious Royal Academy of Music and has started the programme alongside his A Levels at St Columba’s.
DEPARTURES TO FURTHER MUSICAL STUDY
HITTING THE MUSICAL GROUND RUNNING
Mr. S. McCall Director of Music
SPORT
This sporting year has been a unique one. During the Michaelmas Term, at least sport could be conducted in person, on the school field or hall instead of in gardens and front rooms. Whilst the first two terms were devoid of any inter-school sport there was at least an opportunity for students to take part in a range of practices during the week and then the chance to play internal games on a Saturday morning.
INTER-HOUSE SPORT
Inter-house sport became the main competitive outlet for the students and the usual determination and passion was not in short supply! House rugby made a welcome return to the inter-house programme. McClancy were the winners of the combined competition. The year ended with the usual summer competitions in tennis and softball with athletics being showcased at Sports Day. Congratulations to Guertin House who were the overall victors at Sports Day.
GOLF
The senior golf team succeeded in reaching the area final of the HMC foursomes. In addition to the inter-school fixtures, many senior boys have played on a Wednesday afternoon at different courses.
TENNIS
Congratulations to the Form 3 and 4 ‘A’ teams who won the Hertfordshire Division 2 LTA Team Tennis competition for the second year running! They will go through to a regional final in autumn 2021. Most pleasing though is the large number of friendlies that have been played against schools such as St Albans, John Lyon and Watford Grammar to enable non-club players the chance to compete for the school during their games’ lessons.
There was a curtailed athletics programme with a reduced number of meets for all year groups but there was the possibility of some competition. The most notable performance at the County Championships was Benedict Whittle’s win in the senior 1500m steeplechase in an English Schools’ qualifying time. A modified all-day District Championship saw competitions for just Form 3 and 4 this year. Ten medals were won overall with golds for Joe Roberts (U14 100m in a new District Champions record of 11.7), Harry Nicol (U15 Hurdles), Dillion Smith (800m & Triple Jump) and Tom Baker (U15 Shot Putt). The Form 4 team finished at a creditable third place overall.
CRICKET
In cricket, there was a sense of almost normality as all junior teams entered a full County and District Cup draw as well as the 1st XI playing a couple of friendly matches. In the County Cup, both the U13s and U14s reached the quarter-final stage. In the District Cup, all teams made the semi-final stage with the U12s progressing to the final. Congratulations to the U13s who were victorious over St George’s by 8 wickets in the final to lift the District Cup.
U13 DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
In terms of individual performances, 50s were recorded by Suhaan Shovakar, Nicky Elson (top score of the season with 70 not out), Ayoub Mirza, Dev Vibhakar, Jacob Bowen and Harry Nicol whilst Tom Mercier (11) and Suhaan Shovakar (10) were the leading wicket takers.
MOVING FORWARD
Fingers-crossed that the new school year will bring a continued normality to the sports programme which will include senior girls’ netball fixtures for the first time! The Michaelmas Term should see a welcome return to block rugby fixtures alongside national and regional competitions in football, golf and rugby. Senior girls will join the hotly contested Netball District League whilst there is much anticipation about the prospects of success in the swimming pool. These girls will be the forerunners to those who join in Form 1 in September 2022 following a similar programme which will also include the College’s heritage sport of basketball.
