Noticeboard

The Concert that Rocked the School!

“It was Friday the 20^th November. The unsuspecting pupils assembled in the hall to enjoy a quiet spot of lunch. Little did they know that they were about to be wowed by the musical talents of ‘The Slugs’.

For weeks, ‘The Slugs’ consisting of four members of staff; John Merriman on guitar and vocals, Richard Long on lead guitar, Craig Lucas on bass and myself, Marek Rakowski on drums, have been practicing after school hours to perfect our act. The idea was for the concert to seem like an impromptu gig filling the credulous pupils with both surprise and awe.

Before too long, the hall was completely packed out, and the four walls shook with both adulation and the sounds of classic rock! Mr Merriman sported a comical wig, much to the delight of the crowd and Mr Long stole the show with his mesmerising guitar solos.

The gig was such an unprecedented success that by the end, the guitar case that was being used as a ‘busking’ vessel for donations, was brimming with money. Combined with the money that Mr Long and I had raised for growing our moustaches for the occasion, I am happy to report that £200 were raised and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the students for their kindness and generosity. All proceedings will go to a very good cause.”

Mr M. Rakowski         

Drama Dept.

May 2009

Year 11 Leavers

The Year 11 Class of 2009 recently celebrated the end of their compulsory schooling before knuckling down to complete their GCSE examinations. The girls were invited in for breakfast and many forms took the opportunity to dress up based on a theme. There were a number of girls in jungle camouflage, some school geeks, some St. Trinian's girls and some girls wearing the leaving tops their forms had ordered. After signing leaving books and the leaving board, the girls assembled in the hall for their leaving assembly where each form presented to the year group. This included a baby photo competition of staff and pupils, pictures from their time at Newlands, a song performed by Mr Merriman and his form and a special leaving message from Kris Marshall. After some hugs and a couple of tears the girls then said goodbye, collected their coffee mug leaving gifts and headed for home to get stuck into revision for their upcoming exams.

Click here to see pictures from the day.

April 2009

21/04/09

On Thursday 2nd April, we organised a musical soiree in aid of Cancer Research UK - the UK's leading charity dedicated to researching cancer. The concert was held in the Music block, and comprised of a range of both solo and ensemble items, including several songs from the Madrigal Choir and a performance from Izzy Wiltshire on her Hammered Dulcimer! The evening was a huge success, and we managed to raise an amazing £415.54 for the cause. To everyone who was involved, and to all those who donated so generously, thank you ever so much for your support, without which, this fantastic charity would not be able to continue its world-class research. 

15/04/09

Newlands has gone live on educational music-sharing website NuMu (like MySpace, but for music only, run by the foundation at the front of the "Musical Futures" project). The aim of the site is to give young people ownership of their music, and to get some recognition from peers from their own school and across the country. The PRS licenses etc are all paid for so there are no copywright issues. Pupils can upload and share their own compositions and cover versions, and get inspiration from others.

If you go to www.NuMu.org.uk and click on Labels/Newlands Records, you can listen to our girls' music, boost their listener rating, read comments people have made/make your own comments and see if any have made it into the weekly NuMu top ten.

March 2009