But singing is not just for Christmas; for us, it is so important for our school community that we are involved with, and enjoy singing all year round.
Our Acting Directors of Music, Mrs Killick and Mrs Woodman, explain the mental, physical and social benefits of singing, and share with us some of the remarkable successes we have celebrated this past year...
Singing is wonderful. It releases endorphins, serotonin and dopamine – the happy chemicals that boost mood and help make us feel good.
Singing enhances lung function; increasing lung capacity and positively engaging the muscles around the ribcage. This is why singing is often prescribed to help rehabilitate people with lung conditions such as long Covid.
Singing also helps improve mental alertness, as well as memory and concentration, and is often recommended for those with dementia or memory concerns.
Singing enables you to be creative and express yourself and through this has even been found to offer pain relief; in fact, singing in a choir is now at times prescribed by doctors rather than tablets!
It boosts confidence and self-belief, and it builds connections, friendships and strong feelings of togetherness.
Singing has no boundaries, it is for everyone.
At Redmaids’ High Senior School, we practice singing together as a whole community twice a week. Many of our students also branch off into various choirs too that rehearse on a weekly basis within school, as well as enjoying external competitions and foreign tours to places such as Lake Garda, Barcelona, China and America.
And whether it has been our set choirs or whole student body, over the past calendar year we have enjoyed a tremendous amount of singing together, sharing so many unforgettable memories. Our Spring and Autumn Concerts were a huge success, Founders' Commemoration Day is always a wonderful occasion as we sing together in Bristol Cathedral, and we had a huge amount of fun with some students singing at our House Talent Show. Most recently, our annual Christmas Concert and singing carols at Southmead Hospital were particularly special moments.
Amongst the experiences we have shared together, we have celebrated much success this year too.
Over the summer, our former Year 13 students Rebecca, Tamsyn and Rebecca were all awarded choral scholarships for their universities of choice; Durham University, the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford respectively. They follow in the footsteps of former student Jenny who was also awarded the same scholarship at the University of Birmingham last year.
One of our current Head Girls, Maddy, also won a choral scholarship at the National Children’s Choir for 2024 - an incredible opportunity to attend residential courses throughout Easter and the summer, as well as helping to mentor younger choristers.
Maddy was also part of our eight member choir Close Encounters who were runners up in the national GSA Choir of the Year competition earlier in March.
In other national level groups, Maddy sings with the National Children’s Choir, and Grace, Year 13, sings with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.
Katie, Year 10, and Emilia, Year 10, also now sing with the Bristol Youth Choir whilst many other students sing with church choirs and local drama groups such as PQA and Stagecoach.
We also celebrate the achievements of our alumnae who we are delighted that they continue to pursue their music endeavours alongside all other aspects of their lives; Jenny, Claudia and Catherine now all sing in the Elite Upper Voices Choir at the University of Birmingham.
Over the years, former students have also been awarded scholarships with the City of Bristol choir and keeping in touch with them this year, we are thrilled that many of them are still singing with the ensemble.
Congratulations to all these students for such an astounding twelve months, we are incredibly proud.
These accomplishments, as well as reflecting on the wonderful experiences and positive impact that singing has had for all of us over the past twelve months, we can’t help but eagerly look forward to what next year has to bring.
Merry Christmas everyone and keep singing!
For more information about our Music Department please click HERE or for the very latest news see our dedicated Music Instagram page HERE.
We also have our Redmaids' High School Community Choir for parents, alumnae, staff, governors and our wider school community. If you would like to join, or receive more information please email enquires@redmaidshigh.co.uk.