Royal Albert Hall performance for Whyteleafe pupils

​Some musicians spend their whole lives dreaming of getting a chance to perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall – but for the choir of Whyteleafe School, it is starting to become something of a regular fixture in their calendar.

This week the young singers took to the stage at the prestigious London concert venue for the Young Voices CLIC Sargent children’s cancer charity concert, the sixth time that they have been invited to take part.

Also on the bill were acts such as street dancers Urban Strides, Irish folk pop duo Hudson Taylor and Tom Billington, and the members of the Whyteleafe choir got a chance to watch the big name acts rehearse during the afternoon before their own performance, as part of a 1500-strong choir of school children who performed on the venue’s main stage, singing songs including When I Grow Up from Matilda the Musical, and an Andrew Lloyd Webber medley.

“It was an amazing experience for the children, many of whom would probably never ever have the chance to come to such a prestigious venue, let alone perform at it,” said the school’s head teacher Anthony Marsh.

“We’re very proud that Whyteleafe keeps being asked back – it shows how highly regarded our choir is, and it also makes it something for the new members of the choir to aspire to and look forward to."

Whyteleafe School is a member of the GLF Schools group, a Surrey-based multi-academy trust which now runs over a dozen schools across the south east, based on a model of strong collaborative learning. So it was appropriate that the Whyteleafe children got to be part of a strong collaborative effort as part of the massed choir, who ended a memorable evening with a rousing performance of All You Need is Love.

“This performance is a memory that will stay with all of the children who took part – and those of us who got to watch it - for a very long time,” added Mr Marsh. “Everyone at the school should be very proud of the effort the choir put in, and when they end up being given an opportunity to perform at somewhere as world famous as the Royal Albert Hall, then it shows them just how far hard work and dedication can get you”.