Christmas Carol Service 2022

After 3 years, Deer Park pupils brought back the festive cheer we were all looking for. The snow and school closure on Monday 12 December 2022 didn’t stop our festive spirit and the school community made their way to St John the Baptist Parish Church in Cirencester in sub zero temperatures on the evening of Tuesday 13 December 2022.

In true Carol Service tradition, the service opened with the carol, ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ sung with beautiful harmonies by our Key Stage 4 Singers.

Josh in Year 11 said ‘I thought the Carol Service was really fun, I enjoyed it a lot. There was a very nice atmosphere in the Church.'

Pupils from all year groups participated in a selection of festive numbers, ranging from those performed by our Guitar and Flute ensembles, Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Singers and DP Players. The mesmerising collaboration of Key Stage 4 Singers and Key Stage 3 Dancers to a rendition of ‘O Holy Night’ was brought back this year, to mark those who performed it in Year 7 and are now in Year 11.

Maddison in Year 9 said ‘I really enjoyed this event, it was another new experience for me. I thought the rehearsals for the services were fun too.’

The programme this year gave pupils an opportunity to showcase what they had been working on in extra curricular clubs, as well as in the peripatetic lessons. We had a song written by Timothy in Year 11, following the death of the late Queen. Eleena performed a beautiful flute duet with our Flute teacher, Jackie.

Rudi in Year 7 said ‘I liked being a Year 7 in the Carol Service as it was my first opportunity to perform. The songs were really fun and I’m glad I took part.’

One of our parents commented 'I would just like to say WOW to the Christmas concert. All the children were fantastic, their talent, their behaviour, the teachers, everything! I really was quite blown away as was my family and parents. Thank you for such a truly wonderful evening.'

There was a retiring collection for Young Minds, who are the UK’s leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health. Their mission is to see a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health, and all young people get the mental health support they need, when they need it, no matter what.