AND OF COURSE... A COSTUME TRIP!

The most hard-hitting may well have been Blue Stockings, a really timely reminder to us of the prejudice and barriers women face, particularly poignant given the recent incursions into women's rights and spaces in the wider world.

Phillip Tedd

A particular production which blew me away was ‘Blue Stockings’ It will certainly be a production I will speak about for a long time.

Chris Softley

Blue Stockings has been one of my favourite productions to work on. The depth of the piece required something totally different from our cast and, though it challenged them, it demonstrated the breadth of their talents. The play itself was so important and being able to demonstrate to our students how far back the fight for equal rights to education started, was inspiring It was wonderful to hear about the changes they want to make in the world. What a triumph of a school production, friend!

Laura Evers

Bluestockings! What an amazing play and brave choice with a small cast, strong feminist message and amazing, powerful performances.

Katy Goodwin-Bates

Thank you so much miss! School of Rock was the best musical I’ve ever played in and you were always encouraging everyone to be the best at their roles as possible We’re all sad to see you leave and I wish you good luck in the future. Once more, thank you miss!

Rosalind Bayliss

SoR was my favourite ever school performance! So good to see so many y9 involvedthe band and music were amazing but Georgie Dutton stole this performance!

Donna Shoesmith-Evans

School of Rock was amazing...mixing acting and singing and wow did they perform here! Georgina Dutton was another excellent lead. I have never laughed so much at a performance and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amanda Pinkney

School of Rock was a barnstorming night, showcasing some of my favourite students I've taught in my career, all to a rollicking soundtrack.

Mark Gill

My favourite show I've ever seen at school was School of Rock. I love that the students were able to take on something that's actually quite edgy and did it in a way that totally embodied the spirit of rock that the show is all about I loved how things went wrong and the cast just rolled with it; Georgina singing acapella and the band just going along with it was perfection and literally noone else in the audience knew it wasn't just meant to be like that. The Friday night performance was a feeling I'd like to bottle and keep for the moments when enthusiasm is just out of reach; the buzz of being in a noisy, enthusiastic audience for such an absolutely incredible production was something I will never forget. I felt like I was at an actual gig and it was everything. Even if they had to be "good and miffed" which was one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

Katy Goodwin-Bates

This show - WGS students, rocking out, forming new friendships, overcoming HUGE obstacles and even creating their own bands - will always stay in my heart as a highlight of my teaching career. There was magic on that stage!

Laura Evers

Thank you so much for bringing the magic and fun to every lesson and show you have led and we will all miss you and happy personality

Harry Wilde

Thank you for being my speech and drama teacher for 3 years if it wasn’t for you I probably wouldn’t be taking drama for GCSE or being going for grade five speech and drama. I have enjoyed all the plays and productions and I will really miss your wise coaching Good luck for the future

Ted Cooper

Hi Miss, when I heard you were leaving I really had to make a double take. I just couldn't imagine productions without you. I really enjoyed doing all the shows I've been in with you directing us My favourite probably being School of Rock. I hope you find success in Chester and I wish you luck in your future endeavours. Have fun, Miss!

Liam Matley

I would like to thank Mrs Baker for teaching me the choreography for SoR, and for keeping the whole production together. She was an absolute inspiration and she's made our shows so brilliant.

Miranda Bayliss

Thank you for everything (Enjoy Colin!)

George Ng

Thank you so much for everything you've done, the productions, speech and drama lessons and being an all round lovely person. I enjoyed doing productions with you, and they will always hold a special play in my heart Thank you again, and goodbye!

Charles McLarnon

School of Rock changed my life Yes, it sounds pretentious and hyperbolic and slightly too passionate for a secondary school production, but it remains the truth. I’ll face it, I was in a really bad place during School of Rock. I am still in a really bad place in my life at the moment. But School of Rock gave me purpose. With yours and Ms. Evers' help, guitar work, acting, singing became an escape I desperately needed. I normally use writing, for example, I’ve written complete novels as long as 100,000 words since Year 5, but School of Rock and play/musical theatre in general brings a performance, social aspect that I never knew I needed. I’ve gained a reconciled passion for guitar, a strive for Drama which I needed the push to set off for. Thank you. If nothing else, you’ve changed my life for the better, and I wish you the best in future endeavours. You rock.

Ash Poplar

Dear Mrs Baker,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing journey at the grove. If it wasn’t for you and Ms. Evers I’d have given up acting, I’d never have known how much I can do on stage, I’d probably not be staying on at The Grove for sixth form and I would have gone full-time to Harrogate Army College when I leave school.

I have been a bit hit and miss with school productions up until this last year and I finally see what it is all about. School of Rock will be going down in history at this school thanks to YOU!!! And for Mr Lockwood to say that Blue Stockings was his favourite show (and he genuinely meant it) warms my heart because YOU made that entire production the best it possibly could have been. We couldn’t have done any of it without you. You are literally my hero.

You manage to teach tonnes of students Speech and Drama and Acting, you own and manage this region of PQA, you have a tiny and adorable human, Hetty (tell her I said hi btw) and you also manage to direct and produce school shows on top of all that!? You are honestly so Incredible, I don’t know how you do it.

You have completely opened my eyes to my own capabilities with your positive, optimistic, and all-round beautiful personality and attitude. I am absolutely gutted that you are going to leave us! But all good things must come to an end, I guess.

I thank you for carrying me through with my Grade 7 Acting. I thank you for School of Rock and Blue Stockings. And I thank you for putting up with me.

You will be sincerely missed so much by everyone at the Grove, you have been such an asset to everything and everyone, not just in the drama department but for the rest of the school as well.

From the bottom of my Heart, Thank You.

*I’m crying now - this is your fault*

Gee Dutton