On Wednesday night, some of our Year 9, 10 and 11 students travelled to the Hippodrome in Birmingham to see Wicked! The night was described as very “inspiring” by our young musicians at the Earls. The GCSE Music cohort in particular enjoyed hearing Defying Gravity in person for the first time; a piece they have studied as part of their qualification!
The Earls Music Department hosted their Samba House Competition on Tuesday. The 4 competitive houses composed their own pieces and lead their ensembles. Shenstone took the win in a close competition, with a fantastic twist on a previous summer concert piece!
Mrs Wycherley writes:
Our final day of skiing is over! Skis, poles and boots have been returned, cases have been packed and we have had our final evening meal. This evening students had another opportunity to visit the local supermarket where they stocked up on snacks for the long journey home. If any of you were hoping for change from the Euros you sent your child with, I wouldn’t expect much. Fingers crossed they managed to at least buy you a gift!
We managed to take some fabulous photos on the slopes today which I hope you enjoy looking at. Yet again it was a stunning day with lots of sun. All 5 of our ski groups were able to get to the main mountain and completed a variety of ski runs down. This in itself is a huge achievement because we have more beginners on this trip than we have had in previous years.
This evening we have been ice skating which was a great way to end the trip.
It has been a wonderful trip and one that I am sure the students will remember for many years to come. I am certain that as well as learning to ski it has benefited them all in a whole range of other ways that you will see on their return. Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing them away as they have been so keen, enthusiastic, helpful and well behaved (most of the time!).
We look forward to seeing you all back at school tomorrow but be prepared for some very tired young people!!!
Today’s awards go to:
Kamikaze – Pierce for causing a pile up and getting lost in woods
Poser -Dan for trying to race staff and losing
Donut of the day- Lewis (I will let him explain why)
We have also taken the opportunity tonight to reward and recognise some other achievements throughout the week.
Mrs Wycherley writes:
Our penultimate day has been full of personal achievements. Lots of students have gone higher into the mountains or managed to do things that they haven’t been able to do before. The sense of pride amongst them has been delightful to see. We have had 4 of the 5 groups up on the main mountain and hoping the fifth will be up there tomorrow. So many have also helped one another when things have been challenging during the week.
The Uno champions from yesterday were also very appreciative of their free lunch up the mountain today.
Today finished with a romantic meal for 55 at a pizza restaurant. It was lovely to see and hear all the conversations about things they have seen or done throughout the week. One table even put all their phones in a pile and did not go on them for the evening!
Tomorrow is our last day, and we are hoping we have some students who will want to continue to learn to ski in the future. We are beginning to think more about coming home as the week draws to a close and although it has been an absolutely superb week, both staff and students will be ready to return come Friday!
Today’s awards go to:
Kamikaze – Ava for a trip to hospital and a broken wrist!
Poser – Elliot for showing off and racing the instructor!
Donut of the day – Matt for losing his ski at the end of the last run!
Mrs Wycherley writes:
We are just over halfway through our trip and every student is now skiing with confidence. The 5am departure last Saturday morning now seems like such a long time ago!
I am pleased to say that today has been a little warmer and we have had clear blue skies and sunshine this afternoon.
We now have 3 of the 5 groups on the main mountain and I have had the pleasure of skiing with all these groups today. I could not believe how fast these groups were skiing and was amazed by the wonderful techniques that were on show.
The ski instructors have been so impressed with the enthusiasm, determination and commitment that all of our students have shown and have regularly commented on this throughout the week. They are all a real credit to our school.
This evening we have been to the bottom of the mountain to watch the ski instructors put on a ski show which was a fantastic display of talent and a look at skiing through the ages in terms of fashion and equipment used since the 1920’s.
We also ended the evening with an Uno championship, with the winners from each group winning lunch paid for them on the mountain tomorrow.
Today’s awards go to:
Kamikaze – Jacob for flying around a corner into the side netting as well as knocking multiple people in his group over.
Poser – Charlie for bragging he has ‘skiing in the bag’!
Donut of the day – Sahara for starting a snowball fight and getting soaked the most.