Students and staff at The Barlow RC High School in Didsbury have followed in the footsteps of some of the world’s biggest popstars by making their own charity Christmas recording.
Music Teacher Mr Meakin and Year 11 music student Matthew Fitzgerald produced the eight track CD, featuring festive performances from staff and students across the year groups. A special Barlow staff rendition of Band Aid’s ‘Feed the World’ has proved very popular, with numerous requests for it to be played during Form Time, in the last week of term.
The CD features a range of tunes, from traditional Christmas carol ‘O Holy Night’ to modern classics including Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ and an acoustic take on Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’. School rock band ‘Wake up call’ live up to their name with their version of Blink 182’s ‘I won’t be home for Christmas’.
Headteacher Mrs McCarron said, “Our truly talented students worked hard to produce the CD; they performed brilliantly. We've just had our Ofsted inspection which stated that the school is going from strength-to-strength and remarked upon our flexible and innovative curriculum and stimulating and exciting enrichment activities. As well as an excellent education, we give our students the opportunity to use all their talents, to help them prepare for the lives they have ahead of them.”
Students at The Barlow have always been good at coming up with new ideas to raise money for charity and this year, has been no exception. They have truly embraced the new addition of a recording studio to the school, following its recent refurbishment, and spent December lunchtimes recording the Christmas CD and producing copies to sell for charity. Budding artists got in on the action and created five different pieces of artwork, which were made into CD covers.
The school’s recent Christmas concert infront of a crowd of over two hundred people showcased many of the featured artists and gave the school the ideal opportunity to sell the CD; it went down a storm with the families who attended the celebration. Students have been snapping up copies of the CD in school, with all the money raised going to Manchester’s own Cornerstone Day Centre and orphaned and abandoned children in Bolivia.
Tracks featured on the CD
1.Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Matthew Fitzgerald
2.All I want for Christmas – Amber Crain
3.Baby it’s cold outside – Victoria Butler & Thomas McCormack
4.I won’t be home – Wake up Call
5.Jingle Bell Rock – Olivia Muldoon & Sophie Fitzgerald
6.Last Christmas – Olivia Williams
7.O Holy Night – Mr McGuire
8.Feed the World – The Barlow Staff
For more information please contact:
Kathryn Carr, Marketing & Communications Manager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 0161 445 8053