Pictured: 2021 alumna and Senior School winner, Maddie Warlow.

By Mrs Axford (Assistant Head)

This week, the build up to BGS House Talent 2022 began in earnest with auditions from Years 3 to the Upper Sixth. The Assembly Hall has been packed to the rafters with everyone keen to support their friends. Over 80 entries from the Junior School have provided a challenge, but they have been action packed with gymnastic and dance routines mixed in with instrumental solos in addition to jokes and magic tricks too. There have been some particularly wonderful moments. No one could fail to enjoy Phoebe Hadingham’s (Year 5, Chanel) exuberant ventriloquism routine with her sock puppet or Arlana Cunningham's (Year 4, Nightingale) Irish dancing with her older sister Áine(Year 7, Nightingale)

In the Senior School, Olivia O’Connor (Year 8, Franklin) raised the roof with her rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath the Tree, which had everyone singing along and feeling ‘Christmassy’. There have been some new students who have nonchalantly hopped up on stage and then taken the audiences’ breath away. Bella Pringle (Year 7, Franklin) with her guitar and vocal solo Love Story by Taylor Swift, and Isabella Bacon (Year 9, Hepburn) with her Irish dancing performance were two such cases. We have had some wonderful performances from students who have grown in confidence since they started at BGS with Minaal Ali (Year 9, Hepburn) singing a fabulous solo of Alexandra Burke’s version of Hallelujah and Maya Kamau (Year 9, Franklin) with her piano solo Misty by Erroll Garner.

We have also seen many familiar faces back on stage with the Sixth Form turning out in force. They have produced some very polished performances including Ishani Patel’s (Upper Sixth, Parks) beautiful South Indian Dance and Anastasiia Paniushkina (Lower Sixth, Chanel) with her piano solo Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio. The Sixth Form performances have a relaxed ‘joie de vivre’ feel about them and it has been great to see them auditioning with younger students in their Houses too.

We are only part way through the audition process and are working towards House Talent Finals on the final Tuesday of term, which if the last week of auditions are anything to go by will be an afternoon to remember!