Visiting Auschwitz - The John Roan School

The Messiah Project
12th to 22nd March saw
our second vocal project
in collaboration with
Goldsmiths University.
The project was to
teach our students a
selection of choruses
from Handel’s Messiah,
which culminated in a
performance of the full
work in conjunction with
professional musicians,
music students from
the University, Kender
Primary and, of course,
The John Roan School.
The John Roan was
represented by an
impressive 60 students: choir students from Years 7 and 8
and all students who have picked music as an option in Year
9, 10 and 11. We even managed to get most of the boys
singing, some even admitting to enjoying it!!! Singing in four-
part harmony was a new experience and challenge for all
our students, but as expected, they all rose to it and made
an impressive sound even before the professionals joined in!
The reason for the choice of the Messiah was that one of the
compulsory GCSE set works, ‘And The Glory of The Lord’, is
chosen from this oratorio. Giving students the opportunity to
learn a selection of music and perform as part of the whole
work, we hope, has given them an understanding of the
context and the stylistic features of the music required for
the course.
As well as many hours of rehearsals, the two-week project
included a trip to the Foundling Museum where students learnt
more about Handel, who was a governor and benefactor of
the children’s hospital where annual performances of the
Messiah provided a vital source of income for the institution.
Students were given unique access to a number of historical
artefacts as well as being allowed to see an original copy
of the score of the Messiah which was bequeathed to the
hospital.
Students were also offered harpsichord workshops at school
and several tours and a workshop on ‘Handel’s Women’ at
Goldsmiths University.
Needless to say, the performance was fantastic and The
John Roan music students, once again, did us proud. Well
done to you all!
Miss McGaw
Year 7 Cricket
The Inter-Form cricket tournament has drawn interest from all
in Year 7 and is proving to be a great success. So far all tutor
groups have displayed excellent team work, organisation
and effort. 7JF face 7MM in the first semi-final. The winners
of the games between 7CG Vs 7AF and 7SB Vs 7FM will
determine the other semi-final match. Hot favourites 7JF
appear a tough team to crack. Well done to 7JO and 7AS for
making it to the quarter-final stage.
Greenwich Schools
Athletics Trials
20 John Roan Students participated in the Greenwich
Schools Trials at Sutcliffe Park Athletics track. This event
is used to select students to compete for Greenwich at the
London School Championships.
Notable performance went to Joel Ampadu in the Junior Boys
100m, finishing 3rd against students a year older than him;
Yael Sherr 3rd in the Junior Girls 800m; Mia Kyla Gomes
3rd in the Junior Girls Long Jump; Kelsey Lewis 3rd in the
Junior Girls 1500m; and finally John Ashbourne winning in
the Junior Boys Shot Putt.
Congratulations and good luck to John and Cloe Garrett
(Pole Vault) who have been selected to represent Greenwich
at the London School Championships.
Money, Money and
more Money
Once again, the PE department were successful in winning
a bid. This time it was Sport England for £8,463! We have
now won over £16,000 this year! Ms Coop and Ms Ryan will
be selecting students from all year groups to volunteer their
times at Christchurch and Merridan Primary School. The
students will be given Nike polo shirts, tracksuits and gain a
qualification in table tennis coaching. In return they will give
up their time at lunchtime and after school to encourage the
primary children to take part in table tennis. Both primary
schools will be given a free outdoor table tennis table and
The John Roan will gain another table. This is a fantastic
opportunity and it can count for 25% of their final GCSE PE
grade! Any student interested must see either teacher. The
project will run from now until next summer.
Host Borough’s
Netball Tournament
Although netball is not an Olympic sport, it was good of
Langdon Park Sports College to host the first ever Host
Borough’s Netball Tournament.
On Tuesday 20th March the Year 7 & Year 8 teams competed
against schools they had never played before. The Year 7
girls were also playing against girls a year older than them.
Year 8 got off to a good start with a win in their first round of
matches. Year 7 got off to a shaky start due to nerves and
had a narrow lose.
Both teams played well and improved with each match, but
unfortunately neither team made it through to the semi-finals.
Year 9 also played in this tournament a week later, again
playing against girls older than them. However, this was
good experience for them.
The girls played well and had an up-and-down tournament
with some wins and losses. Unfortunately the girls did not
make it through to the semi-finals.
This was a lovely tournament to be involved with and I hope
this will continue to run after the Olympic Games.