The lockdown can have a very strange effect on people; for me, it has felt very odd indeed not to see the same pupils and staff everyday and interact in the usual way. I was trying to think of a way of getting people ‘together’, and a colleague suggested somehow getting people to sing together ‘virtually’ and trying to record it. Music seemed the obvious platform, and with the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on the horizon, what better way to celebrate our ‘community spirit’ than to link the two.
It was a bit of a gamble asking pupils and staff if they would record themselves singing to a backing track and guide vocal so that we could somehow reproduce a virtual choir, but happily, many did. The point of all of this was not to have the best, most perfect recording we could, but to produce something that celebrated our school community spirit and would evoke that “everyone having a sing-song around the piano” feel, that ultimately makes people smile! I’m really happy that so many pupils and staff threw aside their inhibitions and recorded their part, even getting parents involved too! Huge thanks go to Mr Shakeshaft for helping me and editing it all together. We hope our VE Day Community Sing-a-long makes you smile 🙂

Written by Miss Fowler

Click here or on the picture above to view the video for the VE Day Choir