There were big celebrations at the Senior School last week following the announcement that we had been named Independent School of the Year 2021 for the Performing Arts. The Prep School was shortlisted for the ‘Green Award for Environmental Achievement’ earlier in the year, but it was at a virtual Awards Ceremony on 7th October that performing arts teachers and students learnt of the historic win, during which the judges commented on “the energy” of our vision and “enterprise in making Music and Drama possible this year“. Our Award entry told the story of Student Voice as a driving force in the many extraordinary drama, dance and musical performances. It described the poignancy of the original devised theatre our students produced this year and how they tackled gritty issues such as child kidnapping, sexual harassment, war, abuse and addiction, whilst finding creative and impactful ways to breathe youth and diversity onto the stage. It celebrated the work of the ‘Claremont Extra’ podcast team, the ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ virtual outreach project and the short film ‘BETCHA’, which won ‘Best Production Design’ award at the first International Schools Partnership Film Festival… Director of Performing Arts, Sarah Cakebread said:This is something that has really lifted the spirits of the whole school community as well as the Performing Arts team, and when I say team, I mean the teachers AND the students. We are enormously proud of them and all their hard work, creativity, resilience and determination in continuing to perform despite the challenges thrown at them this year, and we will continue to enjoy the feeling that there is no ceiling to what we can achieve. It’s now full steam ahead in preparations for our school production of Guys and Dolls in December – we are so looking forward to having another opportunity to share with our audiences what we do well
