Ready for the music: pupils from 19 Croydon primaries gathered at the Fairfield Halls yesterday for the annual Whitgift School concert
DAVID MORGAN reports from an event which saw one of the Fairfield Halls’ biggest audiences for a while – and certainly one of its most enthusiastic
The excitement and expectation of more than a thousand primary school children from across Croydon created a wonderful atmosphere for the Whitgift School Spring Concert in the vast Concert Hall of the Fairfield Halls yesterday.
This annual event, part of the Whitgift Primary Project, has always been well-supported by local schools. This year, 19 primaries came along.
For some children this would have been their first visit to the Fairfield Halls. Let’s hope they return soon to see another show.
This is one of those important events where the varied communities of Croydon have an opportunity to come together. Long may it continue: school outings tend to stay in the memory long after contents of classroom lessons have been forgotten.
The morning concert comprised a carefully planned 45-minute programme that showcased the musical talents of the pupils of Whitgift School, the large fee-paying secondary, for mostly boys, in South Croydon.
There was a wide variety of sounds, from jazz to strings and voices to brass. There was even a number written by Dolly Parton. The applause and cheers from the young audience showed just how much they appreciated the efforts of each and every musician.
The concert provided an opportunity for Whitgift to remind local schools about their outreach work. The Primary Project has been going since 2004. Its logo is a peacock feather – a reminder of the birds that stroll around the school grounds. The project runs throughout the school year and sees a different local primary visiting the big school site in Haling Park each week.
Opportunities are provided to inspire the youngsters in their learning. Many youngsters would have been inspired by the music they heard in the Fairfield Halls auditorium.
The Whitgift Corps of Drums opened the proceedings. There would have been a time when it was not unusual to see drums and fifes being played, when local Boys’ Brigade and Scout bands were more common than they are today. For some watching on from the stalls yesterday morning, their reaction to the volume generated by the drums showed it was the first time they had seen and heard such a spectacle, live.
To add an additional element into the mix, Whitgift is being inspected this week, so an inspector came along to the Fairfield Halls to have a closer look at this event. I trust they were suitably impressed by the musical achievements and the school’s commitment to education and to the community. Archbishop Whitgift would have given an approving nod too, I am sure.
As the children exited the building, they were still full of chatter. Regular passengers on the local buses were inundated as the school crocodiles hurried their way out of the foyer to get to the bus stops.
“Where have you all been?” a passenger might have asked.
“We’ve been to the Whitgift concert at the Fairfield Halls.
“And it was really good.”
- David Morgan is a former Croydon primary headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who writes regular history and culture articles for Inside Croydon
- For the full archive of David Morgan’s history research, click here
- If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
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