Last Tuesday, Ysgol Greenhill held its Annual Leavers’ Concert - an exhilarating evening of entertainment, showcasing the diverse talents of the various groups which make up the school’s Expressive Arts department.

Opening the event was the ever brilliant Wind Band, who injected an initial dose of energy into the proceedings with renditions of Hawaii Five-O, This is Me (from The Greatest Showman) and The Muppet Show.

This was neighboured by a change of pace, courtesy of the sublime talents of Year 11 pianist Martha Williams, whose silky smooth performance of I Know by M.E. Loose was a sophisticated crowd pleaser.

Sandra Calvente then took to the stage with her recital of Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved, mesmerising the audience with a performance so electrifying, the entire hall was buzzing with speechless admiration.

Katie Morris was next, creating another tonal shift with her spellbinding performance of K.D. Blackwell’s Latin Nights, which she delivered with all the poise and dexterity of a professional Cellist. Autumn Fletcher then proved that her talents as a singer are, at least, on par with her formidable skill as a stage manager with her recitation of Callum Scott’s You are The One.

Ryan McSweeney, the lead in last term’s School of Rock, became his very own one-man band as he took to the stage, guitar in hand, to perform One Bedroom by Theo Katzman with his usual confidence and skill.

The Jazz Band then steered the event smoothly into the interval (and a chance to view a GCSE Art display in the Year 11 area) with three diverse pieces - Sunday Morning by Neal Hafti, Gospel John by Maynard Ferguson, and Poco Loco by Bud Powell.

The audience returned from the interval to an unannounced surprise – a performance of a scene from Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, courtesy of Sam Swannell and Joe Garrett, who have been studying A Level Drama here at Greenhill. It hit all of the right buttons, delivering humour, pathos and tragedy with perfect ease.

Then, the music continued. The Choir took to the stage with two pieces: Listen (from School of Rock), and - a very special treat – Let It All Go, written by our very own Year 11 composer Izzy Nixon.

Conceived as a GCSE composition, the piece was energetically performed by the singers, emerging as accomplished as anything else on the evening’s programme.

Miss Nixon is, no doubt, an emerging talent to watch out for in the years to come!

Aimee Reynolds and Zoe Price then performed The Travelling Soldier.

Originally a song by The Dixie Chicks, this version was an arrangement for voice and Ukulele which worked brilliantly, tapping into the heart of the song with its stripped back, affecting arrangement.

Following in the same vein, Bethan Miles’ Cantilena on Flute carried this sense of transcendent simplicity further still with its emotive excellence and assured skill.

Then, Izzy Nixon returned to the stage for her solo performance of On My Own (from Les Misaerables), before joining forces with an also returning Aimee Reynolds to perform Never Enough (from The Greatest Showman).

The event was, as per tradition, rounded off with three pieces from the School Orchestra – The Pink Panther by Henri Mancini, M.J. Medley by Michael Jackson, and Star Wars by John Williams.

The Greenhill Music Department would like to extend an enormous ‘Thank you’ to the Peripatetic music staff for their time and effort, both on the evening and leading up to it, to the members of SOGO, and to Ioan Thompson, whose enthusiastic contribution to the running of the event was, at once, generous and indispensable.

Scarlets Outing for U15s Girls Rugby

On April 2, Ysgol Greenhill’s U15s Girls Rugby squad travelled to Carmarthen to take part in the Scarlets Rugby Tournament.

It was a great day out for the girls, who played some excellent rugby and gained a great deal of valuable experience playing against some very strong teams from across the region.

Snowboarding Champions

Ysgol Greenhill would like to say a massive Congratulations to Daisy and Mila Blackwell, who took part in the British Snowboarding Championship in Laax, Switzerland recently.

Mila won the gold medal in the U16s Bordercross event, with Daisy winning the silver – they were the only siblings to compete against each other in the same category. Mila also won a silver medal in the U16s Slopestyle competition.

We are incredibly proud of both girls, who have been snowboarding alongside some of the best in the world (including Olympians Billy Morgan, Jenny Jones, Katie Ormerod and Jamie Nicholls).

It was a fantastic week for them, and Daisy even spent every evening catching up on her school work too! Congratulations Ladies!

Urdd Rugby Tournament

On Monday, Ysgol Greenhill’s Year 7 Rugby 7s squad competed in the National WRU Urdd 7s tournament in Cardiff.

It was a great experience for the boys, with a chance to test themselves on the National stage, and everyone showed great team and individual development throughout the day.

The results for the day were as follows: Group Stages – Lost 24-14, Lost 24-19, Won 26-7 and Lost 35-7. Plate competition – Lost 30-12 and Won 29-17. Tries on the day were scored by Eddie Waring (6 tries), Keaton Smith (3 tries), Sonny Savva-Nash (2 tries), Rhys Emanuel, Tom Faletau, Iwan Duffy (2 tries) and William Meek.

A total of nine conversions were scored by Fin Lewis and four conversions by Joseph Davies. The star players of the tournament were Eddie Waring and Sonny Savva-Nash. Da iawn bechgyn!