Our trust's free, annual community event has entertained music lovers for the fifth year running, with almost 600 musicians, and more than 30 different groups, performing at Springwood High School in King’s Lynn across four consecutive nights.

The West Norfolk Academies Trust Community Music Festival was attended by around 1,000 people, and took place from 6 to 9 July at 6pm, with each evening featuring a different musical style or genre.

Trust high schools taking part included host Springwood, Marshland in West Walton, St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement, and Smithdon in Hunstanton; while the member primary schools involved in the event were Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Junior, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn. There were also performances from community groups, bands, and orchestras from across the region.

The event kicked off on the Monday with a night of concert bands, big bands, and orchestras, where Springwood school bands were joined by the West Norfolk Music Centre, West Norfolk Reeds, Centre Stage Swing Band, and King’s Lynn Town Band; while Tuesday was ‘Rock and Pop’ evening with performances from up-and-coming rock and pop stars.

On Wednesday, it was the turn of more than 200 school choir singers to take to the stage, performing a medley of 1990s hits, before the event came to a close on Thursday with the ‘Springwood Spectacular’.

WNAT Director of Music Robin Norman organised the Festival, and was delighted with its ongoing success.

“The Festival has now been taking place for five years, and, year on year, the success and audience numbers grow,” he said.

“The vocal evening on the Wednesday is always a highlight, with 16 different schools, and a total of around 200 young people performing, aged eight to 18, including three combined items where everyone performed together.

“In terms of memorable performances, the Springwood Concert Band performed some disco classics, including the Village People classic ‘YMCA’. The sight of over 200 people in the audience getting involved in the actions is one that we will remember for a while!”

The diverse range of music was also enjoyed by an audience beyond those attending the Festival.

Mr Norman explained: “Each year we receive messages of support not only from those that are present, but also from people whose gardens back onto the school field, who just enjoy sitting in their gardens and enjoying the music.

“Springwood is a hive of music, with many of our facilities used on weekday evenings and weekends. It is wonderful that we can invite so many of them to get involved in what we are doing.”

He added: “ As a Lead School for the Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub, we take our responsibilities very seriously, we are asked to liaise with other schools and local music groups.

“We are proud to be a part of our community, and to also work with community groups to provide opportunities to engage in music making, and to listen to live music, for all.”

Winners received medals they had designed and cast themselves, in an innovative competition organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust for students across its four high schools.

Year 8 students from Marshland, St Clement’s, Smithdon, and Springwood all took part in the casting contest, which required them to create their own medal design, with winners from each school progressing to the final.

The event was organised by St Clement’s Headteacher, Nigel Willingham, who leads Design and Technology across the Trust.

“A competition was held in all four high schools to design a medal,” he said. “The three winners from each school progressed to the casting day, where they learnt about sand casting, and had the opportunity to cast their medals in aluminium.

“The students travelled to complete the challenge at Smithdon High School, using their casting equipment.”

It was the second year the competition had taken place, with the final supported by SKF Coopers Engineering in King’s Lynn, where the company’s Gary Hellard was tasked with judging the winning entries.

Mr Willingham continued: “Mr Hellard showed students examples made by his company that are shipped around the world, and he explained that he first became interested in the manufacturing process when he saw it at school.”

The winners were announced as Dean Spooner and Charlotte Turpin from St Clement’s, and Abi Fysh and Lucy Kayes-Melton from Smithdon, while the winning designs included gears, a star, a mouse, and a medal for King’s Lynn Stars Speedway.

Mr Willingham added: “It was great to see students take on the challenge and experience a process used in industry but difficult to replicate in most schools.

“The students were delighted with how their designs had come out, and wore their new medals with pride.”

With over forty-five years of teaching experience between them, our new Headteacher and Deputy Head have taken charge at Smithdon High School, as we enter a period of dramatic transformation.

Previously our Deputy Headteacher, Sarah Robinson has worked at the school for 20 years, and has now taken over the reins as Acting Headteacher.

She has been joined by our newly appointed Deputy Headteacher, Jamie Warner-Lynn, who has been teaching for 25 years, and has been seconded to us from Springwood High School.

The two take on the leadership at a time when Smithdon is undergoing extensive refurbishment and restructuring, which will update the school building and provide cutting-edge new facilities for our staff and students.

Mrs Robinson was positive about the changes, which have recently got underway –  despite some minor hiccups.

“It is a refurbishment of the existing main building and gym, to maintain the heritage of the listed, brutalist building,” she explained. “It will include brand new science labs, state-of-the-art music suite and performance area, and a modernised gym.

“Whilst the last few weeks haven’t all been plain sailing, with drainage complications resulting in a temporary school closure, I am proud that the sense of kindness and community I have associated with Smithdon throughout my 20 years here has continued to shine through.”

It has been business as usual for our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, with a wide range of activities and trips taking place over the Summer term.

Mrs Robinson continued: “Despite the disruption, the staff and students at Smithdon have continued to engage in all the enrichment activities that they normally do.

“In the last few weeks alone, we have held our Chess Tournament, a group of Smithdon students won the West Norfolk Academies Trust Race to the Line Event at Springwood High School, the Duke of Edinburgh students have completed their expeditions, we have run a football tour to Paris, and had professional tennis player Jade Windley in to coach our Year 8s.

“In addition to all of these, we have said farewell to our Year 11 cohort following their exam period, and have also been welcoming our new Year 6 students for various transition events.”

Mr Warner-Lynn said: “Whilst it has certainly been a busy start to my time at Smithdon, I am without a doubt really enjoying it. The staff here are incredibly hard working, and the community is so supportive and friendly.

“I have enjoyed doing some extra revision sessions with the Year 11s, and seeing the talent that Smithdon students have.”

While the building work is expected to take three years to complete, our new Head and Deputy are prepared for the challenge.

Mrs Robinson added: “Smithdon’s greatest strengths are a strong and supportive community, and a strong enrichment programme with lots of opportunities for all students.

“We want to continue to develop the culture of the school to provide a warm and welcoming environment, where students can thrive academically, and develop into compassionate and confident young adults.”

Our Year 10 students got a taste of post-GCSE life during a visit to Springwood High School Sixth Form in Lynn.

Around 350 students from four different Trust high schools attended the Sixth Form Experience Day, including Springwood itself, along with Marshland, St Clement’s, and Smithdon.

Nicky Thompson is Head of Year 13 and Careers Lead at Springwood, and organised the event with Head of Year 12 Luke Rawling, as well as hosting a welcome talk and question-and-answer session, and leading taster sessions for A-Level Business Studies.

“It was an opportunity for students to experience a day in the life of a sixth former,” she said. “ Students had a welcome talk from the SIxth Form Team, then had over 30 subjects to choose from for A-Level taster sessions. Each student took part in three different sample A-Level lessons of their choosing, and they then took part in a question-and-answer session with the Sixth Form Ambassadors.

“Throughout the day, they were able to use the dedicated Sixth Form spaces, including the Hub social area, the Cabin cafe, and the Study Area.”

She continued: “Students really enjoyed seeing what a typical day looks like for a sixth former – and our amazing Student Ambassador team was a real highlight.

“They were very good at explaining to Year 10s that the freedoms of being a sixth former, like not wearing a uniform and being able to leave the site during the day, are great, but A-Levels are hard work, and you need to be organised and use your free time wisely for independent study.”

The annual event took place ahead of the students’ post-16 decision making at the start of Year 11.

Miss Thompson added: “Experience Days help students to make informed choices about their futures. Some Springwood students attended a college day at the College of West Anglia instead.

“This is an important part of the decision-making process for the students – they can see if continuing their academic studies at A-Level is right for them, or whether going down a more vocational route at college is more beneficial, depending on their future career aspirations.

“It is also an important part of the school’s recruitment process for the new cohort of sixth formers. Next step is our Opening evening on 10 October, where we welcome back these students and their parents to tour the facilities and ask follow-up questions with subject teachers.”

It was time to turn up the amp, when aspiring rock stars from our school joined others from across the West Norfolk Academy Trust for this year’s Battle of the Bands.

Held at Springwood High School, the competition featured performances from five bands, representing three of the Trust’s high schools.

Bands from host Springwood included Queensway, The Gliders, and Bad Intentions; while Marshland was represented by Irritation Station, and Smithdon by The Unknown.

Event organiser Pete Cuss, who is Head of Arts at Springwood, was impressed by the breadth of talent on show.

“Each band performed three tracks,” he said. “It was amazing to see so many young rock bands coming through in the local area.”

It was the third time that the annual event had taken place, and also the third year running that The Gliders had lifted the trophy.

The winners also received a customised electric guitar, which had been spray-painted in a graffiti style by Springwood Head of Art Lee Eveson, and had the band’s name on the fretboard.

Mr Cuss added: “Without events like these, young bands would not get the experience to showcase their talent ahead of playing in the local area. This gives them a taste of the gigging world before they start their own journeys.”

There was magic in the air, when students from Smithdon High School enjoyed a theatre trip to London’s West End to see a spell-binding production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The 44 students ranged in age from Years 7 to 11, and were accompanied by our Head of Drama, Vicky Proctor, along with Drama Teacher Kayleigh Brown, and Learning Support Assistants John Britton and Heather Burrows.

“It was an opportunity to see live theatre at its best,” said Mrs Proctor. “Also, the production is finishing in late September and being amalgamated into one show, so this was a fabulous chance for students to see Cursed Child as it was originally intended, as a two-part production.”

Our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, organises regular theatre trips for students, with this one made possible thanks to support from Heacham Youth and Community Trust.

“For some students, this was their first time visiting our capital city, and so the experience was incredible for them,” added Mrs Proctor.

“The show itself is truly magical, and all the students were in awe and amazement. They also enjoyed the interval at McDonald’s!”