Author: Simon

These lines from lead character Tony are ringing in the air at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School as preparations are in the final swing for this year’s musical, the ever-popular West Side Story.

Following last year’s sell-out success of Les Misérables, staff and students are pulling out all the stops to deliver just as strong a performance.

To house the 70 plus cast, and huge dance numbers, this year’s musical is being performed in-the-round style, offering the audience an immersion into the New York setting, where two rival gangs of ‘Americans’ and ‘Puerto Rican’ immigrants play out Bernstein, Sondheim and Laurents’ take on Shakespeare’s beloved Romeo and Juliet.

The whole cast have had to learn to dance: choreographer Victoria Pellant said, “Taking on West Side Story has not been the easiest of tasks – the amount of dance within this show can be daunting for any professional company, let alone a huge cast which have not danced very much at all; the cast have been absolutely brilliant and taken all my crazy ideas within their stride.

“I am extremely proud of them and all of their hard work as they have ended up with a fantastic show.”

Performing West Side Story is a huge undertaking for any company, but the complexity of the music, dancing and story staging all contribute to the long-standing beauty of the show.

Musical director, Chris Eastman, said, “Ground-breaking in its time, the emotional depth and technical complexity of West Side Story’s score make it incredibly difficult to perform, even for adults.

“It was an unfulfilled ambition of mine to play Tony in my time at TBGS, but now I get to go one better and conduct this exceptionally talented and energetic cast and orchestra in what remains the musical pinnacle of Musical Theatre repertoire.”

As usual, students from Torquay Girls’ Grammar School are joining the boys, the combined cast offering many talented performers on and off stage.

Director, James Hunt said, “The cast seems to grow in confidence and skill year on year; there are some familiar and new faces but everyone has risen to the challenge of bringing the world of the disaffected rivalling gangs to life.

“I can’t wait to see it all come together for our first performance on Monday 2 March for local primary schools.”

West Side Story is being staged 3-6 March at TBGS; tickets are available via the what’s on tab at www.tbgs.co.uk

The school musical for 2020 is West Side Story, the tickets are now available, you can buy them from the school shop by clicking the poster below.

Torquay Boys’ Grammar School is top 10 school nationally!

It is great to be recognised as the top 10 school in the country, out of over 3000 secondary schools.

TBGS regularly celebrates the huge progress students make academically during their time at TBGS, but last week saw further recognition for how well the school compares nationally.  Researchers from Bristol University analysed the 2018 progress scores of all secondary schools across the country and made an adjustment to take into account disadvantage, gender, SEND and English as a foreign language.

Headteacher, Pete Lawrence, said, ‘It is wonderful to see this recognition of the achievements of our students, and due reward for the hard work of everyone involved.’

In the report, published in Schools Week, grammar schools are noted to have their ratings go down in the Fair Secondary School Index, so it is particularly pleasing to have secured such a stellar position.

The findings come from measuring student outcomes at GCSE, but the high performance of TBGS students is testament to the well-rounded nurturing educational experience offered at the school, which leads to students achieving so highly compared to their peers across the country.

With the winter upon us, here is the latest edition of the TBGS Winter Sports newsletter.

A packed Centenary Hall enjoyed a delightful evening of music from a variety of genres on Tuesday 12 November 2019.

The calibre this year was exceptionally high, and the finale performance of ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’, featuring every student who had taken part during the concert, was a testament to the volume and quality of the musical talent being nurtured in the school. Enjoy some of the highlights in this video.

It is getting very Autumnal outside now, here is the latest edition of the school newsletter.

This term began with a celebration of last year’s success. On 19 September, almost 100 students were invited with their families to celebrate at a prize giving. Each year, students in the lower school are awarded for either progress, academic achievement, endeavour, or our school Aude Sapere prize, a prize devoted to resilience and triumph.

The evening started with welcome drinks served in our new constructed bar area in the Centenary Hall, paid for with the money raised through the school musical. This has transformed the atrium area into a real venue. Accompanied by some vibrant jazz from the year 11 quartet of Thomas Grogan, Isaac Hutchinson, Oscar Garbett and George Thorne, there was a really exciting welcome vibe to kick start the celebration.

Mr Lawrence introduced the award giving with a famous clip from Educating Yorkshire (where a Musharaf experiences a turning point in his education as a teacher opens up his ability to speak, overcoming a stutter, by listening to music), to highlight the power of education to transform lives, and what happens when talented teachers work with dedicated students.

During the award giving, Heads of House awarded special certificates, and coveted gold star lapel pins to the winners, along with perhaps something even greater to cherish; a special individualised tribute was given to each person in turn. Much of the school’s success, and the success that students go on to achieve at the end of school and beyond, comes from strong pastoral relationships between staff and students as they work together through each student’s educational journey. The evening demonstrated that Heads of House know their students, their strengths, motivations and goals, reinforcing the power of our house system.

Congratulations go to all the prize winners.

We look forward to celebrating success further at the upper school evening on 31 October.

This is a video

With the summer upon us, here is the latest edition of the school newsletter.

The Parents Association now has it’s own website  and Facebook page with news and details of events and activities, as well as a Nearly New Shop, Lottery updates and details of finances.  Find them on www.tbgspa.co.uk