The wet weather could not dampen the spirits of the Deer Park pupils as the school community gathered on Tuesday 12 December 2023 in the beautiful setting of St John the Baptist Parish Church, in Cirencester's Market Place, to attend our annual Christmas Carol Service.

The evening started with a beautiful solo performance from Isabelle in Year 10, singing ‘Amid The Winter Snow.’ Freya (Year 10) said ‘My favourite bit of the whole evening was Isabelle’s solo. It was amazing. Overall, it was a great evening and it gave me the opportunity to sing with my friends at Christmas.’

Pupils from all year groups participated in a selection of festive numbers, performed by our Guitar and Flute ensembles, DP Players and Key Stage 3 and 4 Singers, and we had pupils doing festive readings as characters from the Christmas story.

Amelia in Year 7 said ‘I enjoyed the Carol Service very much. I really liked the readers, they were fun. I enjoyed performing with the other Year 7s, singing Jingle Bell Rock. I had never been to the Parish Church before and it was lovely; I loved all the decorated Christmas trees.’

The festive performance of ‘Merry Little Elves’, written and composed by our very own Miss Faux, performed by the Key Stage 3 and 4 Singers was clearly an audience favourite. Miss Faux, Expressive Arts teacher said, ‘I am very proud and appreciative of all the pupils that took part and thoroughly enjoyed working with them in the lead up to Christmas!’

The programme this year gave pupils an opportunity to showcase what they had been working on in extracurricular clubs, as well as in their peripatetic lessons. We also had a solo performance from Megan in Year 8, who played ‘O Holy Night’ on the piano.

Mrs Gleed, Head of Expressive Arts said, ‘I always enjoy the Carol Service, everyone is always in good spirits, looking forward to Christmas. The readers were brilliant, it was great to hear some humour in the service! ‘O Holy Night’ has always been one of my favourite Christmas songs, so to hear Megan play it so beautifully was a highlight of my evening.’

This annual Christmas event is a lovely way to get into the festive spirit with our pupils and members of the  local community, whilst also raising money for a local charity via the collection plate. This year we raised £307.88 for Cirencester Housing for Young People (CHYP), who provide supported accommodation for vulnerable young people who find themselves homeless through no fault of their own. Thank you.