• Productions of Musicals for all ages every year;  in the last few years, Pirates of Penzance, Of Mice & Mozart, All Aboard, Oliver, Snow White, Captain Coram, Jungle Book, Pressing Times of Horace Nelham, Henry the Tudor Dude and Best in the West.
• Many opportunities to perform in Informal Concerts
• Annual House Music Competitions
• Trips to concerts and workshops in and out of school every year
• Pupils entered for Associated Board and Guildhall examinations
• Many pupils successful with IAPS courses and National Children’s Orchestra, National Children’s Choir and National Youth Choir
• Opportunities to learn
  • Classical and Jazz Piano/Keyboard,
  • all Strings (including Double Bass and Harp),
  • Woodwind (including Bassoon),
  • Brass (including Tuba),
  • Percussion (including Drum Kit)
  • Voice
• Overseas trips

Performing Arts Activities

School Productions Year 8 pupils are involved in a ‘Theatre Production Week’ where an annual musical production is prepared and performed within that week.  Students experience performing on stage as well as working back stage with lighting, make-up, costumes and stage management.  The final production is then performed in the Arts Theatre Centre.   Recent productions include:  Jungle Book, ‘Voyage to the Victorians’, ‘Henry the Tudor Dude’ and ‘The Pressing Times of Horace Nelham’ which was also performed in Portsmouth in front of HMS Victory and more recently ‘Oliver’.  Year 6 also benefit from a similar experience as Year 8.  The whole year group are brought together and the aim is to produce a musical production in a week, culminating in 2 performances lasting for an hour for the rest of the school to watch, and 2 evening performances for the parents which take place in the Centenary Hall.  Recent productions include:  ‘Of Mice and Mozart’, All Aboard’, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, ‘Best in the West’ and this year ‘Blastoff!’  Year 3 & 4:  Annual musical play which is either based around the Nativity scene or the Easter story.  ALL pupils from the two year groups are involved in the acting and singing.

Drama lessons,      Year 7 and 8 Each week there is a 40 minute lesson where the aim is to develop communication and performance skills, with confidence, through improvisation.

Speech and Drama A large number of pupils have individual, paired or group lessons on a weekly basis, leading to Drama exams:  LAMDA, Guildhall and Taunton Drama Festival.

Informal Drama Evening / Performing Arts Evenings These are to show parents what the children have been working on during the term.

Drama Clubs /      Public Speaking Year 3 & 4 – Friday         -   4.00 pm to 5.05 pm Year 5 & 6 – Monday      -   4.00 pm to 5.05 pm

Trips out to the Theatre This includes an annual Year 8 trip to the Swan and the Globe Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon to watch a Shakespearean play.  We also visit the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre or the Brewhouse Theatre to watch appropriate Dance & Drama companies perform.

Theatre Groups & Workshops Jeremy James Taylor – artistic director of the National Youth Music Theatre frequently visits the school to give Drama Workshops.  Other departments also invite Theatre companies into school for workshops that link in with their topics.

Dance Club A professional dance teacher takes a Saturday morning session for creative dance and on a Thursday after school there is a Disco Dancing session.