.                                        

The choir kicked off this years cavalcade of talent with One Day More from Les Miserables to be followed by our percussion teacher Mr Kimber  leading the percussion group in a piece called Carnival.  Two of the group were unable to attend at the last minute on Wednesday but a very happy Mr Kimber happened to spot one of his other students, Jamie  in the audience.  He generously agreed to help out.  Miss Harrington-Booth also took the opportunity to thank Mr Kimber for his commitment to the school.

A very colourful staff choir were accompanied by strings to sing Coldplay’s Viva la Vida.  Mr Ford played the piano for their lounge bar rendition of Fly Me To The Moon.

Year 11 student Joe Brown sang his GCSE composition This Last Goodbye  after which the recorder ensemble treated us two two pieces called Don’t Give Up and Peach Pie .  Year 13 A’Level student sang his two exam pieces Fear No More the Heat of the Sun from  Cymbeline and Purcell’s Anacreon’s Defeat.

The glorious wind band were up next with The Pirates of the Carabbean, Twist and Shout and  Is This the Way to Amarillo.  Mrs Butcher was most insistent on some audience participation for Amarillo, even conducting us on when to clap.  Miss Harrington-Booth thanked Mrs Butcher for giving up her lunch time each day she is in school for the sake of our musicians.

During the break refreshments were served and raffle tickets were sold to raise money for the Choir’s tour to Paris in 2017.  We also had the chance to guess how many sweets were in the jar and to name the choir’s monkey mascot. Thanks must be extended to our supportive parents who provide the refreshments and also to Mrs Barnett Who’s company promised to match whatever we raised on Wednesday night

The second half started with Mrs Butcher again leading.  This time the Samba Jamba entertained us with Bournemouth Samba!  The next two peaces took a more classical turn with the string ensemble performing Karl Jenkins’ Palladio and A Level student Sam Collins playing his exam piece Prelude from Five Bagatelles on the clarinet accompanied by Mr Ford on the piano.

But then we rocked it!  Resident rock group The Monarchy in Black, Made up of Matthew and Sean with guests Bel and Jamie (the percussionist from earlier)  played their own composition, Lights, followed by Bruno Mars’ Locked Out of Heaven.  The junior choir added to the contemporary feel with Pharell Williams’ Happy.

Finally we ended wit the choir singing a medley from Wicked.  We have had an excellent year with growth in many of our ensembles.

All we need now is a name for this young man     (but what’s his name?)

Introit                                  Lead me, Lord                                                      S.S.Wesley

Reading                               Mark, Chapter 16, Verses 14-20

Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.  And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

Psalm 65                                Thou O God art praised in Sion                         E.J.Hopkins

The psalm was followed by the prayers

Anthem                                 Greater love hath no man                                  John Ireland

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. Love is strong as death. Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,

that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. Ye are washed, ye are sanctified ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation; That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath call’d you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto to God, which is your reasonable service

Final Hymn                         Thine be the Glory

.                                                     

Two of our students recently lost their ‘surrogate grandad’ Mr Michael Beswick, who the boys knew as Grandad B.  We had the privilege of being invited to sing at his funeral at St Elphege’s on Wednesday 20 April.

We sang  Here I am Lord as Mr Beswick was bought into church by his family.  At communion we roused the congregation with How Great Thou Art and led the congregation with Lord Of All Hopefulness at the end.

We were pleased with our contribution and hoped the family were too.  Then this morning the following was posted on our Facebook page

.                               

so they were.

Introit                  Ave Verum                                             W. Byrd

Reading              Our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.’

Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says:  You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.’

Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said to him ‘throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: He will put his angels in charge of you to guard you, and again: They will hold you up on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time

 Psalm 135          Misericordes Sicut Pater             P. Inwood                                                 

 Prayers

 Anthem               Wash me throughly                             S. Wesley

Hymn                  Forty days and forty nights

.                              

Introit                  The Presentation of Christ in the temple  J. Eccard (1598)

Reading               Malachi 3: 1-4

I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Psalm                  Psalm 27: 1-7 by  J. L. Hopkins

The prayers were followed by Stanford’s arrangement of Nunc Dimmittis after whgich the congregation joined us singing Christ Is Made The Sure Foundation

Esperamos ver voce la

мы надеемся увидеть вас там

við vonumst til að sjá þig þar

نأمل أن نراكم هناك

אנו מקווים לראות אותך שם
 

On Thursday 17 December we were privileged to be joined by Deputy Mayor of Croydon and John Fisher Alumnus, Cllr Wayne Trakas-Lawlor  for our annual service of lessons and Carols.  We were also joined by head masters emeriti Mr Terry King and Mr Pat Liddiard.

This year, to symbolise the specific importance of mother and son to the nativity story, our first four readings were done by four students with their mothers.

Matin Responsory, Palestrina

Once in Royal David’s City was followed by the opening prayer.

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Thy only Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge; who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Our first reading, from the prophet Isaiah  was read by Sebastian Nye in Year Eight and his mother

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. For there is a child born for us, a song given to us, and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wondrous-Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end, for the throne of David and for his royal power, which he establishes and makes secure in justice and integrity. From this time onwards and forever, the jealous love of God will do this.

Jesus and the Apple Tree was followed by  Away in a Manger after which the congregation joined in singing O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Joseph Conroy from Year Seven and his mother then read The Visitation

In the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a    virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David, he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end. Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin? ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you.’ The angel answered. ‘And the power of the Most High will cover you with its  shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.’ ’I am the handmaid of the Lord’ said Mary. ‘Let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Balulalow and This Little Babe were followed by a congregational The First Nowell, after which Edward Afriye from Year 10 and is mother read of The Birth of Jesus

And at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census took place whilst Quirinius was Governor of Syria, and everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph set forth from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and travelled up to Judea to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s house and line, in order to be          registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room at the inn.

The Lamb and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen preceded Simon Cardozo and his mother reading the tale of the Shepherds

 In the countryside close by there were shepherds who lived in the fields and took it in turn to watch their flocks during the night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the heavenly host, praising God and singing: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to those who enjoy his favour.’ Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord hath made known to us’. So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.

The staff choir sang As Dew in Aprille  and Deo Gracias and the congregation sung In the Bleak Midwinter.  Mr McCullagh read from the first chapter of John telling of Jesus’ pre-existance

In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. All that came to be had life in him, and that life was the light of man, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower.

The Word was the true Light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own home and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him he gave power to    become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him who was born not of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man, but of God himself. The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Ding Dong Merrily on High and Hark the Herald Angels Sing rounded off the Service of Carols and Readings.  After the the closing prayer

May He who by His Incarnation gathered into one thing earthly and heavenly, fill you with the sweetness of inward peace and goodwill; and the blessing of God Almighty, the      Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon you and remain with you always.

the congregation joined in a rousing O Come All Ye Faithful we sat, and stayed sitting, as the choir left, until we could no longer hear them sing Hodie Christus Natus Est.

Mince pies and Mulled wine in the school hall followed where we were grateful to our special guest for being photographed with some of the choir

Matthew, Tom, Cllr Trakas Lawlor, Joseph, Jake, Monty and Joshua

This morning Miss Harrington-Booth was voted Teacher of the Half Term by her peers and colleagues.

The great improvement in the choir in the past six years were one of the reasons read out for Miss HB being nominated, as was her tireless commitment and her cheerful manner.

Being the generous modest character she is, Miss HB would no doubt acknowledge the work Mr Ford also puts into the the choir’s success.

And no, Miss HB, we are not deleting this post.  You are an inspiration and the award is well deserved.

We sang for the pupils of St Giles school on Thursday afternoon. They loved it!!!! They also sang some songs for us which were lovely!

On Saturday we sang for an hour and an half in Croydon’s Whitgift Shopping Centre to raise money for Royal Marsden Hospital

  
In the evening we entertained the crowd at the Fisher Festive Fireworks.   And all this was on top of rehearsing for the schools Carol Services.