The 2025 Amnesty Variety Evening was a roaring success. Co-host and organiser of the evening, Rosie Pank, reports on the event; Last week, I had the pleasure of running this year’s Amnesty Variety Evening, allowing me to organise many talented performers in support of different refugee support groups and charities that we get to work with throughout the year. Our main charities we have been raising money for this year are English Plus, which is run across Norwich to help people learn English, allowing them to have opportunities such as careers and educations. We also support Nancy Oldfield Trust and have an ongoing bicycle restoration project that fixes old bikes and delivers them to refugee hotels around Norwich, providing them with a small bit of freedom each day. My favourite part about this evening was meeting different people who come to support the show, from many different areas of life and also watching our fantastic school community come together in such an enthusiastic ways to help support others. At this year’s variety evening, there were a plethora of different talents on display from the staff band to a dance troupe of pupils from Norwich school, Jane Austen and the City of Norwich School. After working with the dance troupe for the last few weeks, it was extremely rewarding to watch the mix of pupils across age groups and schools, getting on so well and creating friendships as they work together, and watching them come to life on stage as a group for the final time. After watching the show each year, it was a pleasure to be able to return this year as a compere along with Nicholas Conway, introducing the performers, and sharing some information about the importance of each charity we support and the wider amnesty community. It was a great success this year, with the audience being incredibly generous helping us raise lots of money for our charities, and I hope next year’s show is just as successful, and that we get to be involved again! Thank you to Mia Scarborough, L6 from the Close Creatives Collective , who took a selection of the images below.

On Thursday 23 January 2025 the Chapel was abrim with musical delight for the world première of Isaac Schaad's (L5) Divertimento for Strings. The first movement of the Divertimento was awarded first prize by Dame Judith Weir in the Guildhall School’s RELEASE composition competition in September 2024. The recital began with Isaac and Brenda Blewett (pianist) playing the works of Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach and Kabalevsky all of which were excellently delivered and received. Following this, Isaac introduced his Divertimento and was accompanied by Musicians amongst Norwich School Staff and beyond.