Cranford Review 2010-2011 (Annual edition 2011)

On Saturday 2nd July 2011 Cranford Community College
and its local community buzzed with excitement as we
opened our 3rd biennial International Festival. After
weeks of poor weather we all crossed our fingers for sunshine
and to our relief the day was bright, rain free and very warm.
Cranford is known for its ability to stage an event with pizzazz.
True to form we adorned the concourse with bunting creating
a multi-coloured frame which led to a large performance stage
designed, built and managed by the outstanding Creative and
Media Diploma group under the skilful eyes of the Creative
and Media Faculty.
At 12.00pm approximately 60 pupils and staff dressed in
coloured T-shirts representing the five continents of the world
paraded from Brabazon Road along the High Street to Cranford.
A sea of brightly coloured national flags accompanied by
drumming announced the parade for all to see. Residents came
from their homes, members of the community lined the streets
and shop keepers left their places of business to cheer the
parade on its journey.
Kyle Powell, year 10 who recently represented Great Britain
at the Paralympics proudly led the parade carrying an Olympic
style torch which he handed to Kevin Prunty, Headteacher, to
light our Festival flame and formerly open the Festival.
A stream of visitors joined in the festivities including staff and
students past and present, their families, friends of Cranford,
members of the Governing Body, pupils from primary school
who are about to join us and a large number of our local
community.
It was quite a spectacle to see all the flags placed along the
concourse to frame the events of the day. The smell of various
national dishes mingled with popcorn and BBQ aromas. Stall
holders offered opportunities to purchase plants, books and soft
toys amongst other things whilst children were entertained with
face and plate painting, a bouncy castle, a bungee run and a host
of oversized games on the field. An army assault course, dance
mats, football and other sports challenges engaged the energetic
whereas those who just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet
indulged in cream teas and cakes in the tea room or croissants
at the French café. There was something for everyone.
The hub on the day was definitely the stage. One by one
performances by students and guest performers, sang, danced
and acted their way through a packed and varied programme,
pronouncing loud and clear that Cranford’s got talent. The
highlight for us was our Jo rapping to capture the hearts of all
who watched him. Even PC Danny Mac zumba’d away whilst
the Metronome Steel Band played on to close the event in
style.
The success of the day was entirely due to the good will of the
staff involved, before during and after. Although it was hard
work we did it together and everyone had a great time.
By Jessica Joyce (Assistant Headteacher)
After I had completed my tasks preparing
the stage, me and my fellow creative
and media students had to start getting
changed into our costumes that we
designed ourselves. When we started the
parade I faced a little problem which was
because my wings were so big it was a bit
hard to walk in the front of the parade so
I had to move back. Most people said the
costume looked really good.
I had a great day and I really enjoyed
it because all my friends were there and
also because everything went well. I
learnt how to work as a group and how
hard it is to organise an event and how to
make a carnival costume by myself.
By Sathma Nugera
(year 10 - Creative and Media team)
My role for the day was ‘stage hand’
alongside Marie, Sathma and Khatra.
The whole festival wasn’t as simple
as it may sound. Firstly, we had many
technical problems. For example;
one performer started to sing and the
microphone wasn’t working. We had
to instantly stop the performance and
give her a different microphone.
‘Cranford International Festival’ was
very successful. The thing that was
successful for me personally was my
job.
It was a great experience because I
got to learn a lot of things over the
process of organising it as well as
running it.
By Nazish Hussain
(year 10 - Creative and Media team)
I have never hosted anything quite so big, at first
I felt nervous as I made my first announcement
but everyone really motivated, encouraged me and
helped me improve.
Our goal was to show Cranford’s talent and we
accomplished that. Everyone was very impressed
with the standard of talent and how well everything
was organised when it came together. We also had
external acts, and they really appreciated how we
organised everything and were impressed with how
we dealt with them.
In my personal opinion I feel as if the day couldn’t
have gone better, even with the problems we
came across, I’m happy they happened as it made
everything more of a challenge and just gave the
team more of a drive to work hard. The day was
a great success, a day to remember and a great
experience.
Cranford Review 2010/2011
16 Excellence in all areas 17
By Sara Khan
(year 10 - Creative and Media team)