Music and Drama at Spring Grove School

02 Nov 2018

Every year the House Entertainments at Spring Grove bring the whole school community together in a feast of music and drama as the children in Conrad, Dickens, Austen and Chaucer Houses write and perform four shows. The theme this year was ‘Down on the Farm’ and it saw the Sunley Hall turned into a farmyard full of animals, farmers and check-shirted farmhands… complete with a real-life tractor, a very large bunny, a wily fox, and a ‘hanky panky, cranky stinky, dinky lanky, honky tonky, winky wonky donkey’.

Music and drama play a huge part of life at Spring Grove, and the vitality of these departments stems from the very top as both the Headmaster and his wife (Mr and Mrs Jones) are gifted musicians whose enthusiasm drives the musical life of the school. Thanks to a fantastic team of visiting musicians, 80 per cent of children in Years 2 to 6 learn a musical instrument. Everyone sings (including the staff – see the Spring Grove Song video!). The school has a dedicated Music Centre, incorporating a large teaching and orchestral space as well as two smaller teaching rooms, and informal concerts are very important events allowing all children, whatever their level of playing, an opportunity to perform.

Another highly anticipated annual event is the school musical, performed every summer. Recent hits have included ‘The Amazing Adventures of Superstan’, ‘Splash!’ (an unusual take on Noah and the Ark), and ‘The Pirates of Penzance’. The school also regularly takes part in local events, such as the Service of Remembrance at Wye Church, music for the patients at a Residential Home and a Good Friday Procession through the village, as well as in the prestigious Stour Music Festival.