The culture of a school can only be seen in its day-to-day operation. Open Evenings and school events are a wonderful showcase of what a school can do when putting on a show but if you want to know what a school is really like you need to visit during the school day. Watch how the students interact with each other, and with their teachers, to really find out whether the school lives up to the values it publishes on its website.
At The Abbey School, House Music and Drama (HMAD) is the perfect example of a school showcasing its values, that you will never get to see because it is put on, not for anyone else, but for the students and staff only!
But I am getting ahead of myself. I am Mr Robert Bradley, Head of Computer Science at the Senior School and from September this year, one of the Housemasters of Paget House. Because of this I have the privilege this year of writing about HMAD and my experiences as a new housemaster.
Now it has to be said that I have the pleasure of being a housemaster alongside a very experienced housemistress in Miss Julie Smart and together (she did most of the work really!) we oversaw the preparation of Paget’s entry to this year’s HMAD.
For those who do not know the school or HMAD, in the Summer Term HMAD is launched and the House Captains are given a Theme. Within this theme they have to come up with a 40 minute show that must incorporate various elements including music, singing and drama. In previous years a programme was produced, but it was changed this year to be a social media trailer for the show. The show must include a range of students from across all the year groups.
In the first half term of the Autumn Term students sign up for, and rehearse during lunch breaks and after school, for their House’s show and the last day of the half term all four Houses put on their shows for the school and the judges and a winning House is announced.
This year the Themes were Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and on Thursday 24 October the whole school was off timetable to watch the performances.
A short article like this cannot do justice to the amazing job the participants in all the Houses did and I wouldn’t dare risk mentioning any individual pieces for fear of not mentioning equally brilliant other pieces. What can be said, that is true of every house and every participant, is that a lot of work went into every show and every individual did their part. I guarantee that every Housemistress and Housemaster was very proud of their House’s students and especially so of their respective House Captains who did so much work organising and producing their shows.
I should make a special mention, however, of the Drama Captains, Ella, Ariana and Liza, who weaved together a wonderful production that introduced each House’s performance within their own little storyline!
After all the wonderful performances it comes down to the judges to pick a winner – never an easy task any year. And this year the well-deserved winning House was Kensington.
I asked Sarah, one of Paget’s wonderful House Captains about her experience of HMAD. This is what she said;
“Getting to be a part of something as unique and iconic as HMAD 2024 has been an absolute joy. From drawing Paget’s theme, “Winter,” to shaping our storyline, right through to dress and tech rehearsals, and finally, the live show – it’s been an incredible journey. To say it has been a breeze would be an understatement. However, I think all my fellow house captains would agree that to have the unique opportunity to manage and showcase the wide range of skills from across different year groups has taught us many valuable lessons; the importance of which we will come to realise in the future. The emotion of watching our friend’s performances, knowing the hardwork and dedication that had gone into each and every small detail, was an unforgettable feeling, definitely making this day one of the many highlights from my six years at The Abbey.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that made this spectacle of an event possible; from the unsung heroes behind the scenes managing lighting and backstage to all the students involved in the performance who spent their lunchtimes and after school hours turning up to rehearsals to support us house captains. None of it would have been possible without you!”
I started this article talking about the culture of the school and two things struck me during HMAD that really show what The Abbey School is really like.
The first was that throughout the whole day, the girls watching the shows cheered every house and every individual performance supporting their classmates irrespective of their Houses; oohhing at jokes about teachers, ahhhing at Upper III students putting on their first starring performances or loving relationships being performed within the shows and clapping and cheering when their friends performed.
The second was just after the winning House Captains had been given the trophy and had their photo taken. They walked down the stage steps to be mobbed with a massive group hug from the other House Captains. It must have been dusty in the Richards Hall at that moment because I definitely got a bit of dust in my eye at that point. Because it just showed just what a kind and supportive school The Abbey is, the House Captains showing genuine Joy for their colleagues’ win!
