Education News

Coronation celebrations at CHS

Junior Waconians donned red, white and blue to have a royally good time learning all about the Coronation of King Charles III. The celebrations began early as pupils enjoyed a fun and educational morning assembly about the traditions of the monarchy. Year 6 pupil Nathaniel played the part of King Charles and was crowned before walking among his classmates to show off his royal props! The Juniors also crafted bunting to decorate the school and baked cupcakes.

Mrs Kate Sargent, CHS Junior School Assis tant Head, said: “The children enjoyed dressing up in red, white and blue and learning more about the coronation. They listened to Zadoc the Priest, played in Westminster Abbey during the official cer emony, and Year 5 recalled their own visit to Westminster Abbey last term. The whole Junior School sang the national an them together, which they had learned for the Queen’s Jubilee.”

Stockport Grammar audiences voyage to Ancient Greece

Stockport Grammar audiences stepped back in time to Ancient Greece to watch a spectacular production of Dido and Aeneas. The production was created collaboratively between the music, dance and classics departments.

The play is based on Virgil’s poem, the Aeneid, which was written in the first cen tury BC. The poem follows the tragic love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan Prince Aeneas as they discover whether their loyalty is to their heart or their duty. Composer Purcell set the fourth book of the epic poem to music in the 17th cen tury and created the opera that is still performed to this day.

Chamber choir and orchestra expertly brought Purcell’s compositions to life and the school’s dancers interpreted the story with expressive choreography. Drama stu dents also created three exclusive scenes, which portrayed the thoughts of

Dido throughout the play.

The school’s Director of Music, Mr Dow, said: “It was a really stunning achievement and all the pupils involved should be immensely proud. I thought the whole thing was in credibly beautiful and it was so lovely to see musicians, dancers, actors and lighting experts all working so well together to produce such a wonderful performance.”