Pupils celebrate the cultural diversity of our school at the end a busy school year.

To mark the end of the school year, Bishop’s hosted a Summer celebration which explored the beauty of the different cultures represented in our school. Pupils came in wearing the colours of their flag or in clothing showing their cultural heritage. In the afternoon, everyone took part in traditional games and activities designed and hosted by each Form and even by some of the staff for other students; for example, sweet pong, guess the card, glitter tattoos, face painting, a Broom Game and much more !!! Overall, it was a fun and unique experience which we really enjoyed as an end of term activity and would like to see repeated!

Alysha J

We also had live music being performed in the dining room. Two lively sets were played by our African Drumming Troupe, who performed original compositions they had been working on during their weekly lunchtime rehearsals. We were also treated to energetic performances from some of our Year 9 classes who shared some Samba music which they have been studying in their latest unit within their music lessons. Well done to all performers, you really embraced our school ethos of responsible risk taking and added to the atmosphere of the event. Some of your audience even commented that it felt as though they were “at a carnival”!

Mrs McKinnel

Students share amazing work and performances at the Expressive Arts Showcase.

On Thursday 6th July, Bishop’s Expressive Arts Faculty showcased all of the wonderful talent on offer amongst its students. Art, Graphics, Drama and Music all came together to present an art exhibition, concert and drama performance which was enjoyed by a full-capacity audience.

When visitors arrived they began the evening by perusing the impressive array of work within the exhibition which had been created by our GCSE Art, Craft, Design and GCSE Graphic Communication students. This included a range of portraiture, mixed media art work and still life from the Art students, and packaging design, book covers, posters and merchandise from our Graphics students. The level of talent on display was exceptional. The exhibition remained open for the next couple of days allowing the rest of the school to visit and appreciate the fantastic work on display which was a real inspiration to some of our younger students wishing to choose these subjects for GCSE.

After they had enjoyed the exhibition our audience moved up to the school hall to take their seats for our concert and drama performance. The event showcased a real variety of material including items from our Music department, Drama department and a medley taken from our very successful musical which performed earlier on this academic year.

Musical offerings included the inaugural performance from our new school orchestra who really did themselves proud performing arrangements of Make you Feel my Love and the challenging Hoe-Down from Copeland’s Rodeo. We also had memorable performances from our African Drumming Troupe, the Keyboard Ensemble and the Bishop’s Choir who closed the concert with two songs, bringing the house down with their rendition of Happy which saw the audience clapping along. It was also wonderful to hear a range of accomplished solo performances from seven girls right from Year 7 up to Year 13, performing on a range of instruments including voice, clarinet, violin and piano.

At either side of the interval, the Bishop’s Acting Troupe performed Act One of Our Day Out by Willy Russell. The girls from Year 8 and 9 performed with real energy and vigour to produce a humorous and engaging portrayal of a group of students on a school day trip. BATs meet weekly for an after school rehearsal and they did really well to be able to deliver such an accomplished performance given that they had only been rehearsing the material since May.

The Matilda medley was delivered by the cast of our fantastic musical which ran earlier on this academic year. It was a perfect opportunity for the girls to be able to showcase their talents once more, and their slick performance was enjoyed by all.

Congratulations to all the girls involved in the Expressive Arts Showcase who should be rightly proud of their achievements. Thanks also to all the members of staff who contributed to the event and without whom it would not have been possible. Finally, thank you to our Parents’ Association for providing refreshments and to the families and carers of our pupils for consistently supporting them and us.