A FEAST of festive events brought cheer to staff and pupils at Saddleworth School along with the wider community to celebrate Christmas.
The school’s music department embarked on their very first Christmas Carol Service at St. Chad’s Church in Uppermill to provide a traditional, heart-warming event for all.
Lessons were read by students and teachers while musical items were provided by Brass Xplosion, brass ensemble and the school choir, directed by Mr Beckwith and Mrs Pickett.
Garrath Beckwith, Curriculum Leader of Music Saddleworth School, said: “Each ensemble delivered wonderful performances and a feast of popular Christmas carols.
“Our talented young musicians were joined by St Chad’s organist Dr Eileen Bentley – the addition of the church organ to massed ensemble of brass and voices really raised the roof!
“A wonderful evening was had by all and the music department are looking forward to welcoming the community to celebrate with us again next year and for many years to come.”
Meantime, the school’s annual Christmas Concert put talented young musicians in the spotlight once more as they entertained with a host of festive songs and carols.
There were performances from Concert Band, the school Choir, Brass Band, Brass Xplosion, and the woodwind, string, percussion and guitar ensembles, as well as solos.
Pupils were also in full voice for their Christmas Assemblies, which included carols led by the school choir and Brass Explosion as well as reading by teachers.
Headteacher Mr Matthew Milburn spoke of theImportance of Christmas services and concerts as ‘part of British culture’ before Rev Howard Sutcliffe gave a reading.
Then it was the turn of the staff as they took to the stage to put on their annual Christmas pantomime for all five year groups, who watched the panto decked out in their Christmas jumpers.
From a pantomime cow to heroes and villains, ‘Jack and the amazingly cheap beanstalk’ brought all the traditional trimmings to entertain students.
Money raised from the pantomime collections, will go to ‘Light Up Lily’s Life’ charity to help a young baby in Oldham with a rare brain condition.
Meanwhile, kind-hearted pupils were also busy collecting toys and presents for the Key 103 Mission Christmas Appeal to donate to children in poverty in Manchester.
Charity ambassadors Katie Agarwal, Katie Ball, Emma Gregory, Roshni Parmar-Hill and Isabelle Ward led the collection with Form 10D.
Teacher Mr Ian Simkins, who delivered the presents to headquarters with the ambassadors, said: “The girls personally carried in an amazing 17 massive black bin sacks full of toys.
“We were treated to a tour of the facilities, and the staff were most complementary of the amount of toys we took and the way the young ladies presented themselves.
“Many thanks to every pupil, parent, staff and member of the community that donated toys and helped out, with a special acknowledgement to the ambassadors.”
Closer to home, students gave locals a treat to remember as they hosted their annual Senior Citizens party.
The ‘Jamie Oliver’ group served up a mouth-watering spread, and entertainment was provided by the school’s bands and a raffle.
Meanwhile, the school’s Peer Mentors took on a special project with Year 7 students to write around 300 Christmas cards to deliver to the elderly in the community.
All of the cards have a poem in them written by Lucy Chadwick in Year 8 and they have proved so popular that Age UK have asked the school to continue it was a regular project.
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