Music students celebrate Grade 8 success despite online lessons due to pandemic
Never mind seven, as eight proved the lucky number for a Shropshire school that clocked up more than half a dozen new Grade 8 music qualifications during the most recent national lockdown.
Despite pupils having to switch to online lessons and exams, Wrekin College celebrated a 100 per cent pass rate in graded instrumental tests taken while schools were closed for the third national lockdown.
But staff in the music department were particularly delighted to record eight Grade 8s – including seven at distinction level.
Performances were across a range of disciplines which varied from rock and pop, classical and musical theatre vocals, to traditional instruments such as the trombone.
The students included Millie Drummond-Webb, Isola Egerton, Daniel Hall, Benjamin Murdock, Oliver Stott, Timothy Evans, Callum Parkes, and Charles Gibbs.
Director of music at the college, Simon Platford, said they were thrilled with the results and he was particularly proud of pupils who had adapted with enthusiasm to online lessons and determination to keep their musical education on track despite the difficulties.
“It has not been straightforward to switch to online but teachers and pupils across the board at Wrekin College have worked hard to ensure things keep moving forward,” he added.
“It was great to see this commitment which included a number of pupils who felt confident enough to take on one of their most important and challenging exams in the middle of a lockdown. Grade 8 is a landmark examination for any musician so to achieve 8 at this time is all credit to the pupils, their teachers an the supportive ethos they have created here at Wrekin."
The college opened its new music school in January 2020 and recently welcomed world-renowned classical musicians and siblings Skeku and Isata Kenneh-Mason.
They gave a series of concerts to each year group bubble at the school with Sheku on the cello and Isata on the piano.
The school has also maintained rehearsals for its performance of the Sound of Music later this term with a mix of online and in-person sessions in line with Government restrictions.
The school hopes that this will be one of the first live shows to happen if stage four of the Covid roadmap happens on June 21, with performances planned for the following week.
