School news

The new Music School This tercentenary year has seen the completion of our major capital building project and the opening of the new Music School. Following a spirited and innovative request to open the new Music School from the Rock School pupils, who created a video of themselves playing their very own rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody in various random locations around the school site (including the Library and the swimming pool!), they did receive a personalised video from Queen legend, Brian May! The Music Department is now able to meet all its needs in one central location and has been a hive of activity since its opening in November 2021. With 15 lesson and practice rooms, teaching class rooms, rehearsal rooms and the acoustically engineered auditorium which regularly plays host to concerts, talks and other events, the new Music School is proving itself to be an invaluable space and facility for the School.

1722: The Musical An original production and tercentenaryinspired musical was performed by the Senior School pupils at the end of the autumn term 2021.

‘1722: The Musical’ tells the story of two spirited contemporary students, Fin and Theo, who are given a research project into the history of the College as punishment for causing serious disruption to their History lesson.

This is when something magical happens; their weighty historical tome opens a portal into scenes from College life through history, from the original declaration of Richard Churcher’s will in 1722, through to 2023, where history is about to repeat itself! Key moments in Churcher’s history such as the gifting of the site at Ramshill in 1881, the harrowing experiences of too many Churcher’s boys in the trenches of the First World War and the admission of girls to the Sixth Form in the 1980s, all contribute to teach Fin and Theo some valuable lessons and they are returned to the present day having learned the true value of education.

Director and Head of Drama, Stacey Carty said: “I remember sitting down during the early stages, visualising some sort of story through time and all I could think about was how it had to be fun, it had to be engaging and it had to do the Churcher’s story justice. At that point, I had no idea what the plot would be, but I kept being drawn back to rapid visuals, choreography, bright lights, and bursts of song, and that was the moment that ‘1722: The Play’ became ‘1722: The Fullscale Musical’!”

300 Pennies Challenge To continue in the footsteps of our benefactor and encourage philanthropy in education, at the start of the autumn term every Senior School pupil was each physically handed 300 pennies (in three pound coins!) and challenged to come up with some inspirational and entrepreneurial ideas to raise funds for the Richard Churcher Foundation.

There were lots of different fundraising initiatives, including walking, cycling and swimming challenges, food and drink sales, Christmas stalls, raffles and even the production of limited edition 300th anniversary keyrings! Hundreds got involved, each one rewarded with a commemorative 300 pin badge. Some were spurred on by the opportunity to have their own engraved stone in the new Philanthropy Path and managed to raise over £300! One Form group, 1R, even wrote and performed their own play in House Assembly to encourage others in Rodney to get involved. We set a group challenge for the pupils to raise more than the original £3,000 bequeathed by Richard Churcher in his will in 1722. They smashed this, gifting over £5,000 to the Richard Churcher Foundation and the provision of bursary awards to families whose children would otherwise be unable to benefit from a Churcher’s education.

“When I started the first climb, it felt like a big challenge and it would be difficult to achieve my goal. Something that was spurring me on when it got tough was the thought that I was doing this to raise money for the Richard Churcher Foundation and to help others get an education like mine.” Kate (1R)

“I made £200 for the Richard Churcher Foundation by completing a sponsored swim. I used my £3 to pay the fee for a Just Giving page. This enabled me to send a digital link to my friends and family. I started my 30km swim in the October half term and finished swimming before the promised 25th of December. I have to thank all my supporters for enabling me to do this brilliant challenge.” Will (1D)