House Arts – Flixton Rises!

Posted at 9:33 am on 27th November, 2020

At Flixton Girls (FGS) we empower students to express their variety of talents, across our curriculum and beyond! This ethos culminated in our annual House Arts competition.

This platform provides students an opportunity to highlight their talents, both from activities within and beyond the school curriculum. This competition is one of the highlights of the year and allows everyone the chance to participate and show off their talents to staff, form groups and their peers.

This year the theme was 'Flixton Rises Stronger Together', however due to COVID19 restrictions on group gatherings and no mixing of year group bubbles, the format had to change; so the whole event was captured virtually!

Jess Povah, year 10 captured the feel of the event with comments from staff below:

Head of Keller House, Mrs Croniken said, 'I believe House Arts is a fantastic opportunity for students to display their talents, with an array of entries from gymnasts to poets. I love the way the Houses come together to perform and support their acts. There is a real buzz around school on the virtual performance day.

Normally a panel of judges decide on the winners but this year the whole student body were able to cast a vote, through their form groups. Each form selected their favourite acts and the top ones went forward to the judging panel.'

Head of Parks House, Ms McGougan commented, 'I'm was so excited for my first House Arts as Head of Parks House. Lockdown has been really quite difficult for so many of us and I think this is an excellent way to spread some smiles, share our talents and most of all celebrate how amazing Parks House is.

I'm really excited by the number of students who have been really creative, I didn't realise how many students were involved in digital art and graphics. This has added a whole different element to the competition.

Competition is a healthy ethos and I know that Parks House Family spirit means every house entry is supported.'

Last year was a very close fought competition with the result ending in a tie between Frank and Parks houses! This year the level of talent on display again made the final decision very difficult. Mrs Trussell crowned Keller and Parks house students as this year's winners, congratulations to Mollie Fairlee, who was awarded the KS4/5 Senior House Arts cup for Parks House and Molly Barrow for the KS3 Junior House Arts cup for Keller House. Students were presented their house cup and a £10 Amazon voucher by our Participation House Captains Isabelle Rose (Parks) and Rachel Phillips (Keller).

Jess also interviewed Headteacher, Mrs Trussell who said, 'I prefer House Arts as a 'live' performance with the audience participation, cheering on their houses. I was very impressed by the year 7 who played the piano, along with the wide variety of acts including: singers, ballet, hip-hop dancing, comedy to name a few. Congratulations to everyone who participated!

In summary Jess Povah commented, 'Overall I think this years' virtual experience for House Arts 'Flixton Rises Stronger Together' has been a lovely thing to watch as a form group. The pandemic has made it a different experience, not being able to gather together to watch and cheer on our acts. Here's hoping next year we can return to our usual format as the virtual world doesn't provide the same level of house family camaraderie.'