Cordwalles pupils enjoy capital gains from London concert visit

Pupils from Cordwalles School in Camberley enjoyed an all-round educational trip to London recently when they visited the Royal Albert Hall for the Primary Schools Proms.

Organisers took a part of 180 children, 20 parents and 30 staff to the concert organised by Music for Youth at the world famous Kensington concert venue, and took advantage of their trip to the capital to enjoy a picnic lunch and nature walk in nearby Regents Park, visiting
the Peter Pan statue, before an afternoon of musical entertainment.

“The whole thing was a wonderful experience for the children,” said the school’s business manager Sarah Jones, who helped oversee the day, which was organised by head Daryl Power. “The tickets were free and the school funded the coaches because we knew what a special day out it would be, and we wanted as many of our children as possible to be part of it.”

The activities of the trip were conducted as part of the school’s ‘whole learning concept’, with social skills such as knowing how to behave in public, mixing with other children and acting as an ambassador for the school as much a part of the experience as the concert itself – and Ms Jones said the pupils were a huge credit to their school.

“The parents who came along were amazed by the children’s behaviour all day,” she said. “Some of them had never been up to London before, so the whole experience was a real eye-opener for them, and the concert was wonderful. Our party took up the whole bank of seating behind the orchestra, so they had a fantastic view, and the programme included a huge variety of musical styles, with plenty of audience participation and interaction, so they loved it. You could see from the looks on some of their faces how transfixed they were by being there.”

Cordwalles is part of the GLF Schools group, a Surrey-based multi-academy trust which now runs over a dozen schools across the south east, and is based on a model of strong collaborative working. 

Ms Jones said she hoped the experience was something they would repeat, and that it could increase the profile of music in the school. “We have two new very musically talented members of staff, which will really help, and we already have established links with the Camberley Youth Orchestra, so we’d like to build on that,” she explained.

“Going to London was a great day out for the children, and also a great experience for the school as a whole. The children did us proud, so we’d love to offer them similar opportunities in the future.”