The Friary Christmas Carol Concert kicked off the march towards Christmas with a busy programme played to a large gathering of students, parents and friends of the school at Lichfield Cathedral.
The service was led by Revered Canon Gregory Platten (Canon Precentor – Liturgy, Music & Formation) and included a string of popular carols including ‘Once in Royal David’s City’, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, and ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ which was written by Lichfield’s own Frederick Oakeley (1802-1880).
Elsewhere, there were festive reasons taken form the Bible led by student leaders including Holly Cutland (Y13 – Head Girl), Matt Allen (Y11 – Seward House Captain), Izzy Lydall (Y11 – Johnson House Captain), Callie Meakin (Y9 – Darwin House Vice-Captain), and Minhaz Uddin (Head Boy).
There were also a string of musical performances including a wonderful acoustic duet of A Spaceman Came Travelling’ by Emily Rice and Millie Smith (Y12). There were also clarinet and flute ensembles, orchestral pieces, choir performances, and a final jazz ensemble of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “We are hugely grateful to the parents and friends of the school who came out to support this festive event. It is a huge undertaking by our school but we cannot let our students miss out on the opportunity to perform and celebrate in a globally famous venue and to show our local community how talented they are. School life should be about bringing a bit of fantasy and wonder to life and a cathedral performance will be one that is remembered by our students for a lifetime.”