Charity Gala Concert bursting with Disney Magic

Disney and King’s Hawford have a great deal in common; there are plenty of well known Disney quotations that seem synonymous with King’s Hawford, and this was especially true when it came to our Charity Gala.

“All it takes is faith and trust…’“: Peter Pan (Peter Pan)

At the start of the year, as pupils began preparing their class dances, a great deal of faith and trust was involved. Over the past weeks, pupils have worked hard under the creative guidance of Miss Lusted to choreograph their dances, commit them to memory and execute them to a high standard. Mr Stigant had to place his faith and trust in Miss Lusted to ensure that pupils would be show ready! Miss Lusted in turn had to place her faith and trust in our Prep pupils. Judging by the magnificent performances we witnessed yesterday evening, it is clear that the trust and faith were well placed.

“Today is a good day to try.” : Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

For our Year Three pupils, this was their very first experience of a Prep School show in The Barn. With no previous experience of the show, they had to throw themselves into rehearsals and embrace the opportunity. It was wonderful to see all pupils getting involved with and enjoying the rehearsals and ultimately the performances.

“Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it!” : Rapunzel (Tangled).

Not all of our pupils are natural dancers who crave the spotlight, but many were encouraged to step out of their comfort zones for the Charity Gala. Performing in front of large audiences in The Barn, under the glare of spotlights, is a daunting prospect. As a school we are extremely proud of every single pupil who took part yesterday, especially those who were stepping out of their comfort zones. We hope they feel the rewards were worth it.

“Life’s not a spectator sport. If watchin’ is all you’re gonna do, then you’re gonna watch your life go by without ya”: Laverne (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

There were certainly no spectators in last night’s Charity Gala. The concert started with some brilliant busker performances. Brass Group then took the proceedings on, with the theme song from The Pirates of the Caribbean and A Whole New World from Aladdin.

Junior Choir gave two fantastic performances, complete with actions. First up they sang Everybody Wants to be a Cat from The Aristocats before launching into You’ve Got a Friend in Me. 

The tempo then ramped up as Dance Mix delivered the first dance performance of the evening. Dressed in an array of brightly coloured t-shirts, pupils gave a high energy performance to the Ducktales soundtrack. Next up, 6CR launched us into the class dance section of the concert. Pupils found a way of combining basketball and dance beautifully to bring the music to life. 5CK’s dance documented the journey from Zero to Hero from Hercules.

4RC brought the Savannah to King’s Hawford with a comedic performance of Hakuna Matata. 3VL gave their debut performance dancing to Dig a Little Deeper from The Princess and the Frog.

Pupils from Senior Choir then took to the stage to perform two contrasting songs. Unforgettable from Finding Dory was performed to perfection, and pupils set the tone of the song perfectly. The choir’s interpretation of The Jungle Book classic I Wanna Be Like You was a fun-filled take on the original, and had the audience clapping along.

3GH took the audience Under the Sea as they performed to the well known track from The Little Mermaid. The boys and girls from 4LS showed off their acting skills dancing to Encanto’s We Don’t Talk About Bruno.

The final two performances from our pupils came courtesy of 5SH and 6JA. Year 5 pupils danced to You Know What’s Up and Year 6 pupils danced to Aladdin’s One Jump Ahead.

It wasn’t just our pupils who stepped out of their comfort zones. A select group of King’s Hawford staff members also did so and closed the show with the ever-popular staff dance! Mrs Knight, Mrs Butt, Mrs Beech, Mrs Horrocks, Mrs Rand, Mrs Hughes, Miss Lake, Miss Layton and Mr Roberts delivered a perfectly timed performance to Disney’s Magic Happens, which made a truly wonderful end to a magical Charity Gala Concert.

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”: Walt Disney

Every day at King’s Hawford our pupils are encouraged to be curious, to be caring and to be confident. Values of ambition, resilience, humility, creativity and kindness are regularly instilled into our pupils and we hope that our pupils leave us with the ability to dream big and the courage to pursue even the biggest of dreams.