Does Cirencester Deer Park School have talent? It most definitely does, and a lot of it at a very high level! A total of 49 acts participated in this year’s biennial Talent Show for Children in Need and, after two Heats on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 November, 28 acts chosen by a panel of judges took part in our Final on Friday 16 November 2018. The quality of talent on display was at an incredibly impressive level which left the audience amazed!

What makes the Talent Show such a special and important event in our calendar is that is gives a range of pupils a platform to showcase their variety of talents and an opportunity to develop both their performance skills and their confidence.

Molly, Year 10: "I have performed in two Talent Shows now and they are always so enjoyable and a great opportunity for us to help build our confidence."

It also includes opportunities for event management, administration and technology for other pupils, including Year 10s and 11s in the Events Team and Year 10 Performing Arts pupils working backstage and organising aspects of the event beforehand.

Uncovering new talents is also an exciting outcome of the Talent Show; Seb in Year 7 left us gobsmacked with his mind reading tricks which had a heartfelt link to the First World War Centenary, Joanna in Year 10 took to the stage and moved us with her performance of her original song ‘Falling Out Of Love’ and we discovered the massive voices of Isabel and Charlotte in Year 7, both performing hits from The Greatest Showman.

Our Talent Show for Children in Need was a truly inclusive event. The quality of the performances across the three evenings was very impressive and the support from our audiences was really valued. There was a strong sense of team work and the contribution to the smooth running of the show from pupils and staff in a variety of roles behind the scenes was very much appreciated. I was pleased only to be compering the final, rather than judging the event! It was a great evening. A big thank you to everyone involved.

Chiquita Henson, Headteacher

The judges had some very difficult decisions to make as to who to award winning trophies to. What made this year’s Talent Show so impressive is that it was unclear which act would win the overall contest due to the amount of high-quality performances.

Overall Winner:

Key Stage 4:

Emily in Year 11 took the title of Key Stage 4 Winner with her performance of ‘Tell Me On A Sunday’ and the judges awarded two Key Stage 4 Runner Up awards, to skilled drummer Will in Year 10, and Olly in Year 11 for his top class performance of ‘You’ll Be Back’ from the musical Hamilton.

Key Stage 3:

Judges were split for Key Stage 3 and decided to award two equally deserving Key Stage 3 Winner titles to Joe in Year 8 for his professional level gymnastic performance and Timothy in Year 7 who gave us a beautiful performance of ‘Walking in The Air’ whilst accompanying himself on piano.

We look forward to all our acts continuing to develop their performance skills, ready for the many other upcoming opportunities and events that the Expressive Arts Faculty has in store, from our Christmas Carol Service (on Tuesday 11 December at the Cirencester Parish Church), Spring Showcase, Young Singer and Musician of the Year, to our next musical production. An exciting future full of inspiring young talent.

As our audiences can attest, this three night event was full of talent. Daisy May Cooper, aka Kerry Mucklowe in This Country, who came to Wednesday's heat, commented: "I am absolutely blown away by the talent on show at the school."