On Thursday 4 March two A Level music pupils, Kate and Olivia gave their final recital performances in front of a small but appreciative audience of family, friends and teachers.  The wonderful acoustics and architecture of St Lawrence's church in Alton provided a perfect ambience for the girls' performances and the audience was treated to a wide range of vocal repertoire.

Both girls will be furthering their musical studies next year and we will be following their progress with keen interest!

The children in the Preparatory school gave their parents and grandparents a most enjoyable concert which included a great variety of music played on many different instruments. Year 3 gave their first recorder performance as did the newly formed Prep School Brass Ensemble. There were duets on the piano, clarinet and flute and, some very impressive solos from many other instruments including the harp and guitar. At the end of the concert Mrs Ongley thanked all the children and their teachers for all their hard work and wonderful playing; parents and performers then enjoyed chatting over coffee. Thanks must be given to the peripatetic teachers who prepared the children so well for their performances.

On Saturday 6 February, Jasmine Year 9 and two pupils from Year 11, Natasha and Sarah, participated in the Petersfield Young Composers Competition. The competition was sponsored by the Michael Hurd Memorial Fund. To their great delight, Natasha and Sarah were awarded first and second prize in their category - 16 years and under - and Jasmine was awarded third prize in her category - 14 years and under.

The adjudicator gave very positive comments on the girls' work and also provided some ideas for future development.

The children in Year 4 enjoyed attending a concert given by the Southern Pro Music Orchestra at the Petersfield Festival Hall on Wednesday morning. This was a good introduction to the instruments of the orchestra which the children had been learning about in their music lessons this term.

The concert began with a performance of the "Thieving Magpie Overture" by Rossini followed by a clever composition by our conductor Jonathan Willcocks called "Meet the Orchestra". These favourites were thoroughly enjoyed by the children who were then given a lively performance of "The Parade of the Tin Soldiers", "Winter" from Vivaldi`s Seasons and a musical story of "The Theatre Ghost" narrated by our compere William Godfree .

This year’s focus of the annual IVth Form Art and Photography trip to the Tate Modern in London was the John Baldessari ‘Pure Beauty’ Exhibition. It was an ideal exhibition for both sets of students as it crosses back and forth between art and photography making interesting links between the two types of media. Students were inspired, captivated and at times even puzzled by this dynamic, imaginative and often surreal exhibition that questions what art can be and broadly spans this conceptual artist’s work from the late 1960’s to present.

Music pupils from Year 7 to Year 11 had the opportunity to showcase their talents to parents and friends in the annual chamber concert on the 22nd October. After a welcoming glass of wine, the audience settled down to a fifty minute programme of items performed on a variety of instruments ranging from a Harp solo to a Euphonium item.

The soloists included the music scholars as well as some Year 10 and Year 11 GCSE pupils. Despite the nerves, the girls did extremely well - truly a testimony of hours and hours of practising!

Ellie in Year 6, won a competition in the summer holidays, to raise awareness of animal conservation. The competition was organised by Orion Books, The Born Free Foundation and Waterstone's bookshops.

It was designed to highlight why wildlife is so important. Hundreds of entries were received from around the country and Ellie won her group with a model of a cheetah made out of recycled material, including newspaper and cardboard. Ellie was also able to meet her favourite author Lauren St John, who was one of the judges.

For the second year in succession two Alton Convent students, Francesca Year 10 and Amy in Year 11 have once again won prizes in the ‘Alton Arts Society School’s Art Competition’. The judges of this annual exhibition and competition, held at the Assembly Rooms in Alton, awarded Amy’s entry, a beautiful painting of a Lily first place in the Year 10 and 11 category and Francesca gained second place with her highly realistic pastel drawing of a Tiger.