On Tuesday 28 March, 40 students from Upper II and Lower III, plus five members of staff headed off to Cornwall for the Junior School’s first ever music tour. Members of the Jubilate Tour Choir arrived at school bright and early laden with suitcases, which were loaded efficiently onto the coach by our driver, Alan, maintenance staff and a team of helpful parents. At 7:30am we were ready and on our way.
From the start, the weather was not on our side, but this did not dampen anyone’s spirit as we made our first sightseeing stop for lunch in Boscastle. Here, we found out about the flood that occurred in 2004 and enjoyed some much anticipated shopping. We then returned to the coach for the final leg of our journey and arrived at our accommodation, the Cohort Hostel in St Ives, just in time for tea. The pupils quickly settled into their rooms and were excited about the excursions and concerts which lay ahead.
On Wednesday, we travelled to Land’s End where we had our photo taken by the famous sign post and delighted the few tourists who had braved the elements by singing our tour signature song, ‘Show Me A Mountain’ by Lin Marsh. There was also more time for shopping to everyone’s delight! In the afternoon, it was time for our first concert in Truro Cathedral. It was an impressive venue in which to sing and the choir certainly rose to the occasion.
We enjoyed a beautiful morning in St Ives on Thursday, taking in a tour of the Lifeboat Station and entertaining more tourists by singing ‘Show Me A Mountain’ in front of the lifeboat. It was then a short trip to the Seal Sanctuary where we found out about the important rescue and rehabilitation work that they do. On Thursday evening, the choir performed their final official concert at St Elwyn’s Church in Hayle to a small but extremely appreciative audience. Some church members kindly provided refreshments, including chocolate, for everyone at the end of the concert at which point the choir had the opportunity to talk to the audience about their singing.
On Friday, it was time to head home via the Eden Project. As well as exploring the rainforest biome, we gave two final impromptu performances of ‘Show Me A Mountain’ by the breathing sculpture, Infinity Blue and in the depths of the rainforest. We then boarded the coach for one last time and finally arrived back at school in the early evening, happy but certainly ready for a good night’s sleep and the Easter holiday.
Everyone involved agreed that the inaugural music tour was a great success and should definitely be repeated. The students who took part were an absolute pleasure to spend time with – they were kind to each other, polite to everyone they met on our travels and sang beautifully too.
