Year 10 pupil Marcella B. in Queens’ House, completed a 72km trek over 4 days during the Easter Holidays across the Scottish coast. She had a day of glorious sunshine and coped with rain and snow on the other days. She was rewarded with a sighting of 2 golden eagles and has raised a fantastic £1,266 for Malawi.
Well done to Marcella for such a fantastic achievement!
The CCF held a full Contingent Parade on Friday 5th May to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. A banner party comprising Sgts George P and Jemima T, and commanded by CSM George R, took centre stage and offered a royal salute. Following a few words by the Contingent Commander about King Charles’ military career and role, a full contingent inspection was conducted by the senior officers, accompanied by the CCF band playing a range of appropriate music. The chaplain also delivered prayers and a blessing in what was another unique occasion for the CCF.
Senior School Chapel Services took place to mark the forthcoming Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. Thank you to pupils, parents and staff for making this a wonderful occasion.
On the Sunday evening, our Boarders enjoyed a special Street Party Chapel service where they reflected on their hopes for the future and enjoyed special Coronation crepes.
On Monday the whole school community gathered around Chapel lawn to take part in a special tree planting ceremony. The tree was planted by our Head Boy and Girl aided by one of the youngest members of our school community. This was followed by a Coronation Barbecue at lunch.
The Prep School marked the coronation of King Charles III with some celebratory events including the planting of a Coronation Tree and a street party style lunch! Very lovely to see Mr Quick.
Nursery and Pre-Prep celebrated the coronation with a train ride on North Norfolk Railway. Red, white and blue was the theme, picnic lunches, quality family and friends time, making memories that will last a life time.
On the 26th April, the Auden society met to celebrate the bard, the swan of Avon, Shakespeare.
The group had some fascinating talks from Serenity, Miranda, Nico, and Mrs. Sharrock. The talks covered his life, several of his plays (Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra) and the intriguing contextual topic of the plague. The talks honed in on some important areas of focus for our Sixth Form pupils and those in attendance will have benefited from some useful insights that can be incorporated into their written work.
The evening was rounded off with some comments from Mr. Hipperson on the burning question of authenticity – did Shakespeare really write his plays? A resounding yes was the conclusion!
They look forward to the next meeting.
Amongst the trees of the North Norfolk coastline, Year 3 enjoyed a sunny two-day residential trip to Hilltop Outdoor Centre. The children’s aim for their stay was to push themselves out of their comfort zone as they climbed walls, stacked crates, fired arrows, traversed the high ropes and rode the zip wire, as well as testing their agility on the cargo nets and through the tyres and tunnels.
Team building activities encouraged the children to work together and draw on each other’s strengths to complete a number of different challenges including avoiding the trap doors in the maze and escaping the sinking Titanic!
Much fun, smiles and laughter was had by all.
The 10 Minute Play Competition took place on Friday 28th April in the Auden Theatre. Seven plays were submitted, and the winner was Pop, which was written by Larkin A and Emma C.
There were also winners for Best Director, Best Actor, and Futter’s Choice.
As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Year 12 Mental Health First Aid Champions presented in Chapel this week.
They outlined what they had learnt during the Mental Health First Aid programme during their training as a Service activity on a Friday afternoon.
The main aim is to reduce mental health stigma and provide ‘in House’ peer support for the young people in Houses who may worry about approaching members of staff in the first instance.
The MHFA Champions demonstrated great maturity and proactivity in terms of what support they can provide and how they can facilitate further support for young people in School with people that they trust. They have learnt about empathy and active listening.
It is hoped that the training may ignite interest and passion about possible future careers!
On Thursday 20th April a group of pupils from Years 10-12 went to Cromer cinema to see the National Theatre Live screening of “Good”, a political play by C.P Player about the Holocaust. David Tennant was supported by only two others actors and so the pupils were treated to an abstract style of theatre they had not encountered before. We hope that many more pupils will be able to join us on these cultural theatre trips – the next is in June to see the RSC production of ‘Julius Caesar’ at the Theatre Royal, Norwich.
Thirty boys and girls completed their gold practice expedition in the Peak District during the Easter holidays. They travelled to the Hope Valley where they completed a four-day expedition covering the Hope and Edale valleys. They enjoyed mixed conditions from bright sunshine, frosty nights and a couple of wet days. The groups are now well prepared for their assessment expedition taking place in the Yorkshire Dales at the end of the summer term.
The CCF held a full Contingent Parade for its Annual Review on 28th April. The Guard of Honour, commanded by CSM George R, was inspected by the Headmaster and each section held a drill competition with trophies awarded to the wining Royal Navy Watch, Army Platoon and RAF Flight. The Contingent marching band provided some excellent music and demonstrated some smart drill of its own. A number of visiting and senior school staff enjoyed a tour of training in the afternoon seeing a wide range of activities including RAF section pioneering, Royal Navy afloat training and Army section fieldcraft. The cadets and NCOs all delivered an excellent display of what is offered through participation in the CCF.
Schola Cantorum recently gave a concert in St. Nicholas Church, Blakeney. The concert was split into three parts, ‘Music for Holy Week and Easter’, ‘Music to take us to the interval’ and ‘The Coronation’. This allowed Schola to show off their versatility whilst navigating between traditional choral pieces including sacred works by Vierne, Sanders, Mozart, Langlais and Wesley, and the more contemporary favourites ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘Over the rainbow’. Two solos from Ruby S and Tamsin S were particular highlights, as were the musical offerings from Crickets, Gresham’s elite voice ensemble, who gave entertaining renditions of ‘On wings of Song’ and ‘Ain’t misbehavin”. The concert was brought to a close with a thrilling performance of Parry’s coronation anthem, ‘I Was Glad’. Schola Cantorum produced an impressive concert with some truly wonderful sounds emitting from the choir despite being reduced in numbers. Well done to all students involved.
The annual Piano Recital was a delight. Featuring students from both the Senior and Prep schools, it was a fantastic showcase of our pupils as they performed on a Steinway grand in the Fishmongers’ Recital Hall. Their extraordinary standard was shown across a range of genres, blending piano classics by Debussy, Fauré, Chopin and Ravel with more modern pieces by Norton, Rodgers & Hart and Tanaka. Well done to Boaz M, Emily M, Noah W, William J, Lyrico H, Jake O, Evie M, Hannah B, Milan H, Belle W and Alice S for their performances, and thank you to our lead keyboard tutor, Heidi Shinn, for coordinating the concert.
Gresham’s informal concert series had another triumph in April, as Music and Munch featured an eclectic mix of music for solo piano, violin, voice, trombone and piano duet. Well done to Milan H, Belle W, Beatrice G, Isadora A, Fergus R, Mia W, Jake O and Amelie H, who all performed to a wonderfully high standard to the appreciative audience. The next Music and Munch is on Friday 19th May. All are welcome to Tig’s café from 12:50pm for a light lunch and to enjoy the concert.
The termly Evensong service took place at the weekend, offering an opportunity to listen to some contemplative choral music in Chapel on a Sunday evening. Chapel Choir performed an impressive array of sacred choral works: ‘Peace I Leave With You’ by Amy Beach as an introit, Ayleward’s responses, Stanford’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C, and finally Stanford’s epic anthem ‘For Lo, I Raise Up’, with Ruby S and Johnny D as soloists.
The following day, Schola Cantorum gave an enchanting performance of ‘How do you keep the music playing’ in Chapel, featuring Ruby S – a wonderful way to start the week!
Join us in All Saints’ Church, Morston, on Friday 12th May at 7:30pm for a light programme of vocal and instrumental works. Tickets are £15 and can be purchased from 01263 740063 or 01263 741125. All proceeds to charity.
Featuring full orchestra, house band, vocal ensembles and star soloists in Gresham’s atmospheric Theatre-in-the-Woods, this is a not-to-be-missed movie music extravaganza! £10 tickets can be booked from www.trybooking.co.uk/CHWY.