Amid all the end-of-term busyness, QE pupils and staff still found time to remember people less fortunate themselves, both locally and further afield.
The QE Barbershop group gave their first-ever performance of a full programme of music in a fundraising concert in central London for the Family Action charity.
And today, the last day of term, donations that the boys have brought in for Chipping Barnet Foodbank and Homeless Action in Barnet, two charities regularly supported by the School, were handed over.
A group of senior pupils headed out in a School minibus, accompanied by Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter and QE Flourish Tutor Celia Wallace.
Mr Bonham-Carter said: “Care for others and philanthropy are an important element of the QE ethos. Furthermore, our Barnet community is important to us, so it was good to support the two local charities, as in previous years, while also supporting Family Action, too.
“Last year, Chipping Barnet Foodbank fed more than 5,000 people. The need is, therefore, great, and I am delighted that as a School we have been able to play our part in helping out.”
The delivery of the donations came at the end of a run-up to Christmas that has included boys tucking into a traditional Christmas dinner – with vegetarian options available.
The Barbershop group’s invitation to the Family Action concert at St James’s Clerkenwell (Farringdon) came from Adam Hope, who teaches piano and organ at QE.
The boys have previously sung individual pieces of music, but never a whole programme.
Their repertoire for the concert included both familiar carols and lesser-known festive pieces:
- Once in Royal David’s City (Henry John Gauntlett, 1805-1876)
- Ding Dong Merrily on High (Trad. Arr. Joe Johnson)
- Away in a Manger (Trad. Arr. Reginald Jacques)
- The Three Kings (Peter Cornelius, 1824-1874) (with Arjun Patel, of Year 13, as the soloist)
- We Need a Little Christmas from Mame (Jerry Herman 1931-2019, Arr. Dave Briner)