The Coppers Award, a collaboration between the College and Henry Tyndale School, presented an awe-inspiring musical performance in the Prospect Theatre, at the College, on the evening of 11 March 2016.

'Coppers' is a long standing project and partnership providing an exciting and rewarding opportunity for our students and Henry Tyndale School to work together.  Students sign up for either lunchtime arts and crafts activities, or for a lesson where they learn and rehearse song and dance routines, culminating in a dazzling performance at the end of the Spring Term. This year’s show played to a packed house replicating the success of last year’s memorable production of ‘The Disney Adventures’.

Students work under the direction of Year 13 student 'leaders', who are responsible for all aspects of the show including: script writing, choreography, stage direction and costumes. The students learn invaluable lessons about teamwork, leadership and commitment.

Helen Moss, Leader of the Coppers Award & Link commented: “I am so immensely proud of all the students involved in this year’s production. The show exceeded all expectations with regards to creativity; it was fun, lively and an absolute joy to watch. The partnership we have with Henry Tyndale School is incredibly valuable to all the students involved, providing them with a unique opportunity to enhance their skills outside the classroom and I am delighted to have been a part of it.”

John Wynne-Jones, Coppers Award Leader, a second year student said: “The day of the Coppers' Show was, almost undoubtedly, the busiest yet most inspiring day for all involved in Coppers Award. Coppers Award has, for the best part of two years, been the highlight of my College week. This great and unique experience has given us an opportunity to learn and grow in confidence together and most importantly build friendships, with friendship being the main theme of the show. It has been a privilege to be part of this link between two incredible places of education.”

Sol Harding, Coppers Award Leader, also a second year student, added: “For the past two years, taking part in Coppers has been rewarding, inspiring, and fun! The connection I built with all of the Henry Tyndale students is something I will never forget and the time I have spent being a leader is something I will treasure forever. Show day was honestly one of the best days I have experienced at College.  It was so rewarding to see everyone enjoying themselves.”

Tracy King, Makaton Regional Tutor, who taught the leaders Makaton (a language programme using signs and symbols to help people communicate) for “Bare Necessities” and watched the show said: “The rapport between the students and the confident way that the pupils from Henry Tyndale School performed, showed the Farnborough Sixth Form students to be caring, knowledgeable and very professional in their approach to working in Performing Arts, with students with a wide variety of special needs. Being a witness to the young people from Henry Tyndale School achieving their dreams in performance, was indescribable.”

Heather Giles, Assistant Head Teacher at Henry Tyndale School said: “Every year gets better and better. ‘What a fantastic collaboration’, ‘fantastic creativity’ – these are just a few of the comments that I heard during the interval and after the show. Well done to all for yet another fabulous performance and the continued partnership that allows for all students to develop and build skills.

The commitment and dedication of the Farnborough Sixth Form students to build and develop relationships with Henry Tyndale students ensures that the performance is high quality and a fun event for all. Congratulations on this terrific collaborative project!”

Find out more about Henry Tyndale School.