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This year’s House Performing Arts Festival was, quite simply, extraordinary. From beginning to end, it captured everything that is so special about St Michael’s: creativity, courage, teamwork and a genuine sense of shared joy. Our visiting judge Tilly Green spoke warmly about the experience, commenting on just how blown away she was by both the outstanding quality and the remarkable range of performances across the week.

This year’s theme was Songs from Musicals, which provided a wonderful platform for creativity. We are incredibly proud of our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils for their outstanding performances in this year’s Pre-Prep House Song Competition. The hall was alive with energy as the children dazzled us with fantastic renditions of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Let’s Go Fly a Kite and Do-Re-Mi. With props galore, beaming smiles, confident singing and boundless enthusiasm, it was a joy to watch. Congratulations to our award winners: Best Team Spirit: Dover; Most Joyful Performance: Windsor; Most Enthusiastic Conductor: Rochester; Most Creative Prop: Leeds;  Wild Card Award: Dover; Overall Winner (with Let’s Go Fly a Kite): Rochester. Every single child should feel immensely proud—everyone was a winner in our eyes. Well done to all involved for such a heartwarming and uplifting celebration of music-making.

Music continued to shine throughout the festival. The Junior and Senior Soloist classes were a real highlight featuring 24 instrumental and vocal finalists performing with poise, confidence and impressive musical maturity. It was particularly striking to see pupils take to the stage confidently and communicate so effectively through their performances, capturing both the technical and expressive demands of their repertoire.

The Drama classes were a real highlight for so many talented performers. Across the Junior and Senior Monologues, Duologues and the Senior Prepared Verse classes, pupils demonstrated creativity, resilience and an impressive level of performance skill. From the lively and engaging character work in the Junior classes to the more nuanced and emotionally mature performances in the Senior events, the standard throughout was exceptionally high. Particularly notable was the strength of the duologue performances, where partnerships worked with trust, timing and genuine connection, while the prepared verse competitors communicated meaning, emotions and imagery with clarity and confidence. 

We are delighted to congratulate all those pupils who were awarded medals across the various music and drama classes. Their success reflects not only individual talent, but also hard work, dedication and the courage to step forward and perform.

The festival concluded in spectacular fashion with the Prep House Song competition, a vibrant and unforgettable finale. Performances included Summer Nights from Grease, From Now On from The Greatest Showman, Bad Guys from Bugsy Malone and an electrifying Queen medley. Each house fully embraced the style and energy of their chosen pieces, with bold choreography, striking costumes and inventive staging bringing the performances to life. The level of commitment and enthusiasm on stage was extraordinary and the atmosphere in the room perfectly captured the joy and excitement of performing arts. Congratulations to Leeds for winning the House Song Trophy this year.

We also offer our huge congratulations to Rochester house who were crowned overall winners of the House Performing Arts Festival, a superb achievement in what was a very closely contested and thoroughly impressive competition.

Above all, this festival was a celebration of community. Every single child played their part and every performance contributed to an event that was full of encouragement, support and shared success. It is this sense of teamwork and togetherness that makes St Michael’s so special and this year’s festival was a powerful reminder of the joy that we share.

We are immensely proud of all our performers and it would be impossible not to mention the staff who threw themselves into the House Song performances with just as much energy and commitment as the pupils! Their willingness to join in, costumes, dance moves and all, contributed to the fun and created a truly infectious sense of joy across the whole school.

Mr Baird, Mr Powell and Mrs Crane