Highgate’s eagerly anticipated House Vocal competition returned this week, with a thrilling evening of live music at St Michael’s Church.
Featuring original compositions from all of Highgate’s 12 Senior School houses, pupils rallied together, overcame their nerves and gave their all – to crown Eastgate as this year’s winners with an acoustic version of Blinding Lights by The Weekend. Following closely behind was Southgate in second place, The Lodge in third, with Grindal and Fargate in fourth and fifth.
Adjudicator Chris Bruerton, baritone in The King’s Singers, enthused about the evening, saying: “I’ve had such a wonderful time, choral music and entertainment is in good hands here at Highgate. It was great to see such a variety of performances, and everyone really committed to it. What an incredible show of house spirit.”
House Singing marks the first event of the year in the hotly contested Charley Cup, Highgate’s inter-house competition for pupils in Years 9-13. The intensity of the task – to choose, arrange, rehearse and perform a song to their peers in just over a week – energises pupils to step up and embrace the challenge; from the Y13s who entirely arrange and lead the performance, right down to the new Y9s who are finding their feet.
As Verity in Y13, who helped to lead The Lodge’s entry, explains: “What makes House Singing most special is its capacity to bring so many different year groups together in one shared aim. Everyone finds it equally embarrassing at first, but by the end the joy and pride at your achievement is just as unifying. It’s an amazing opportunity at the very beginning of the year to connect with your house.”
Charles Martland, Senior Head of House, says: “Once again, House Singing served as a fitting and spectacular way to open the calendar of house events. The pupils worked tirelessly on their arrangements and their enjoyment on stage stood out. What was noticeable was their support for each other, not only the newest Year 9s working eagerly with the Year 13 music leaders, but everyone also applauding and cheering friends in other houses.”
Highgate’s house system is a defining feature of the Senior School, providing pupils with a sense of identity, community and friendly competitive spirit. With one house group in each year, together they combine vertically to form a larger house ‘family’. Heads of Houses invest in the wellbeing of every pupil, across both academic and pastoral matters, and as the years go by, they help nurture and guide pupils to reach their potential.
Verity adds, “I think the beauty of the house system is that being in The Lodge has come to mean different things to me as I’ve got older – the longer you are in the house, the more connected you become to the teachers and people around you and so the more able you become to take on responsibilities within the house. In that sense it’s an amazing teaching exercise for growing up generally! Having the whole house sing happy birthday to me after our 3rd place victory was the loveliest mix of gratitude and joy, and premature nostalgia for leaving next year.”
Charles Martland concludes: “Bringing the event together at St Michael’s has bolstered everything the house system stands for: a sense of belonging, collaboration between the year groups, respect and listening to each other and a sense of good-natured competition amid the fun of pupils doing one’s best, often outside of our comfort zones.”
