Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing.

We regularly hold Informal Concerts for pupils and parents in the Dr. Moorhead Room. These concerts happen regularly throughout the school year, though this term it was particularly good to welcome parents back into the school rather than having to livestream as we have done for the last few months.

On the face of it, in Informal Concert seems to be quite a small event in the school calendar; a mere 40 minutes at the end of a Tuesday afternoon, about fifteen pupils playing or singing to a small audience of parents and friends. But if we look a little closer at the faces of the children involved, it quickly becomes clear that we are witnessing something far bigger and potentially life-changing.

Each child performs with real intensity – it is clear that their moment on stage matters. Their pleased, joyful, maybe even relieved faces. The joyful expressions that break out on their faces afterwards are more eloquent about their feelings than any words can be; their backs are a little straighter and their heads held a little higher. The boost that performing in front of others and the feeling that comes when something difficult has been successfully overcome have clearly raised their self-esteem and their self-belief. The next time a similar situation comes along, they will be better able to cope and even thrive, whether it be at the next concert or something completely unrelated to music.

This is why we believe Informal Concert are an essential part of the school calendar and we are so delighted to be once again performing them in person to each other.