Tennis

It was a pleasure to take part in the Independent School Tennis Tournament earlier this month, hosted by Brentwood School. Congratulations to our U9 pairs who performed well. Hugh and Arias, who faced some tough opposition throughout the morning, made it through to the final. They came 2nd overall after a super morning of matches. Equally well done to Ambar and Phoebe for getting through to the semi-final. Both girls played some excellent doubles matches during the morning and overall came 4th in this event. Well done to all four players.

Both Hugh and Arias play for Essex. Hugh was one of three selected by the county for the Lionel Cox event 2023. The Essex County tennis team won the overall event against nine other counties.

Girls from Year 5 through to Year 13 have had the opportunity to play tennis in Games during this half of term and after a well-attended pre-season session at the start of term, we have enjoyed fixtures from U12 through to U18, playing opposition such as Brentwood, Bancroft’s and St Edmund’s. Results have been mixed but enthusiasm has been high. We have a large group of pupils in Years 7 and 8 who enjoy tennis and attend after school advanced or development/recreational sessions regularly, developing their skills and understanding of the game, so we look forward to further fixtures in the second half of this term.

British Biology Olympiad

Congratulations to Thomas and Nabel who were awarded Bronze Medals in this year’s British Biology Olympiad.

Music

It has been a busy and productive half term with pupils given the opportunity to connect with music through in person concerts, and with our on-line Live@6 music recitals.

We held our Senior School Summer Concert in early May, where our senior ensembles showcased their hard work and we bid a fond farewell to our Sixth Formers as they begin study leave. The concert opened with the Senior Orchestra performing Danzón No.2, a Latin American jubilant tango. Such was the stirring performance that the audience gave a standing ovation. With so much enthusiasm there followed performances from Saxophone Quartet, Rock Band, Modern Music Ensemble, Flute Ensemble, Haydn Quartet, Big Band, a horn solo from Rosie and a guitar duet with Kylan and our soon departing Mr Michael Wright. Wind Band closed the concert with a fabulous thrilling show of musicianship, with a performance of the dynamic Year of the Dragon.

Our annual Young Musician of the Year competition is a celebration of our finest musical talent at Chigwell School. This year we welcomed our adjudicator, Dr Stephen Cobb, conductor, performer, music educator and Director of the International Staff Band of The Salvation Army. Congratulations to our Junior Winner, Milan on the oboe with Highly Commended to Niara on the French Horn and the Overall Winner and trophy going to Joe on flute and Highly Commended to Daniel on the marimba. All participants were given the opportunity to celebrate at the Music Scholars’ Dinner the following evening.

We have had two wonderful on-line recitals provided by the Third Form and the Fourth Form, where we have been treated to a wide variety of genres in the form of solos, duets and small groups. These opportunities afford the pupils the chance to build their confidence in performance, support one another and showcase their musical achievements.

Next half term we look forward to our Live@6 Senior Recital, our KS2 musical showcase ‘The Wizard of Oz’, our Senior School production of ‘Romeo and Juliet meets West Side Story’, and our KS3 Ensembles Summer Concert.