An upbeat end to term

Although the Christmas holiday is now underway and thoughts have quite rightly turned to family and friends, I want to tell you about the final fortnight of the Autumn term. It had a special momentum which drove the Arnold community on right up to the end of term on Friday.

Our Infants and Kindergarten children presented us with their version of the Nativity, jesus@bethlehemstable.com, which combined the traditional story with a modern twist and served perfectly to remind the whole school of the true meaning of Christmas. Our small actors performed with innocence and great concentration and we left the Hall with admiration for lines well learnt and songs enthusiastically sung. At the Junior School Christmas Concert, a talented group of musicians and singers performed a beautiful selection of songs, readings and musical compositions; I was most impressed.

The entire Junior School made its traditional Christmas trip to the pantomime at The Grand Theatre and the children reserved their loudest applause for our very own Year 5 pupil Yazmin Zakrzewski, who was performing as part of the cast of 'Aladdin'. On Wednesday, Father Christmas journeyed into school to visit our Infants and Kindergarten children, who were lucky enough to get an early present from him.

As you would expect, our Senior School Choir was in demand and their packed diary of events included two Carol Services. The School's Annual Service of Lessons and Carols returned to its rightful home in Holy Trinity Church, South Shore, on the last Sunday of term and we were welcomed very warmly into church. The choir sang sweetly and my personal favourite was their rendition of Elizabeth Poston's 'Jesus Christ the Apple Tree'. You can click here to hear them singing "The Sussex Carol."

The Girls' Choir sang at three local care homes last Wednesday before entertaining 125 ladies at the Arnold Ladies' Luncheon Club in St Anne's. Do look at the website for Colin White's amusing account of his day on tour as their 'roadie'. You can also watch an entertaining video of their rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" at The Blesma Home by clicking here.

More than 350 of us headed for the Memorial Hall last Monday evening to attend the Christmas Concert and boy, did we get a treat! From traditional carols performed by the choir to more upbeat numbers from the Swing Band and 'Got Soul'; the quality of musicianship was superb. I must give special mention to James Cave, our Head Boy, who performed a piano composition of his own that left the audience in awe.

It was excellent to see some competitive sport being played outside again when the icy weather subsided for just long enough to allow some House Competitions to take place. The snow kindly waited to fall until just after we broke up on Friday (thus sparing me the decision of whether or not to close the school) and, despite the snow, our revellers managed to get to the Sixth Form Ball on time that evening. I understand that a great time was had by all.

We have been busy all term of course, not simply during the last two weeks, and to give you a flavour of our recent achievements and events we have added the Autumn Newsletter to the website. 'The Arnoldian 2009/2010' is also available and you can download both documents simply by clicking here. Hard copies are also available from the Senior School Office.

I do hope that you enjoy a relaxing and peaceful Christmas with your loved ones. It can be a very special time for families and those of us who need to track Santa's movements in the run-up to Christmas Day can create some magic of our own by clicking here. As I write, it is only 5 days, 6 hours, 51 minutes and 40 seconds until he arrives! My daughters and I will be following his route eagerly.

My family join me in wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2011.

Best wishes

Jim Keefe, Headmaster

Posted by: J E Keefe
Date: Sunday 19/12/2010