Happy New Year at FGS

Posted at 10:46 am on 5th January, 2023

The FGS family has returned to school raring to go in preparation for their forthcoming 90^th anniversary celebrations and has taken some time to reflect on the incredible variety of activities undertaken in preparation for the Christmas season.

By far the musical highlights of the festive period were our Christmas carol service at St. Clement’s Church in Urmston and our Christmas concert. Both events have always been well attended, and 2022 was no exception.

The carol service, led by Reverend Christine Bailey, was a beautiful community event, which brought everyone together in a traditional Christmas celebration. The congregation included most of our year 7 students as well as their parents, carers, and wider family members.  We all participated in a traditional service of 7 lessons and carols interspersed with other festive contributions from our vocal ensembles who sang a variety of pieces including ‘Angels’ Carol,’ ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ and ‘On Christmas Day.’

 

Our FGC Present, Selkie Huk (previous pupil from St. Michael’s) led the year 11 House Captains, Jasmine Douglas (St. Monica’s), Isobel Newby (Davyhulme) and Eva Heggs (Urmston Primary) in undertaking readings telling the advent story. Vasiliki Avgitidou (St. Matthew’s), Faith Garner (Davyhulme) and Mya Willis-Strachan (Woodheys) also demonstrated their leadership talents by delivering outstanding readings.

Feedback from members of the congregation included:

‘A beautiful service - some special singing and a wonderful way to remember the specialness of the Christmas story. Well done to everyone who took part and made it happen!’

‘It was fantastic! All the singers and speakers were amazing.’

‘Thanks so much for a wonderful, moving service – it helped me to think about how lucky we are – the sherry and homemade mince pies were a bonus!’

‘Lovely evening and beautiful voices.’

Our Christmas concert was a showcase of the wide range of talent held by our FGS students.  From GCSE Dance groups to KS3 Drama performers, brass and string quartets to solos, duets and singing ensembles, the performances made us feel festive. The hard work and dedication of our students and staff, led by our Head of Performing Arts, Mrs Cannons, was inspirational – we even had staff members joining the senior choir! The addition of festive refreshments provided by our team of parent volunteers made the evening even more special; thank you everyone for your efforts.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed our Artisan Christmas lunch all freshly prepared on site by our talented team of catering staff. They made every effort to impress and created a traditional feast with all the trimmings; plus, vegetarian, and vegan options.

The hamper raffle organized by our Friends of Flixton was a wonderful addition to our 90^th year of festive fundraising activities. Thanks again to all the parents, carers, students, and staff for providing a wealth of donations; the hamper raffle boxes were filled to the brim! Congratulations to all hamper winners including Greta Garton (Flixton Primary), Abigail Gilpin (Beech Street), Penny Lees (Urmston Primary) and Eve Nixon (St. Mary’s CofE); we hope you and your families enjoy sharing all the festive delights!

We would like to thank everyone who supported the various Christmas events and festivities, including the Christmas Fair. Special thanks go to our Friends of Flixton for their organisation and support which helped us to raise much-needed funds to help the development of the school facilities.  We cannot wait to see you at our forthcoming school production, “Sister Act Jnr” which runs from 8^th to 10^th February.  Tickets can be purchased by contacting flixtongirls(at)vantageacademies.co.uk

Happy New Year!