‘Outstanding’ show to mark the jubilee
Hundreds of children perform on the Long Walk
More than 300 Windsor schoolchildren gathered in the sunshine on the Long Walk on Friday to give ‘a truly outstanding and moving’ live performance of Windsor’s jubilee song.
Children from 25 schools rehearsed for one final time at The Windsor Boys’ School before heading outside to perform on May 29, after months of preparation.
The event was part of the Jubilee Schools’ Week, a concept created by the Windsor Platinum Jubilee Committee.
It was master-minded by James Manwaring, director of music for the Windsor Learning Partnership and at The Windsor Boys' School.
He devised and led a full week of jubilee activities to be
enjoyed in schools across Windsor.
The purpose of Schools Week was to enable every schoolaged child in the town to be able to celebrate this unique jubilee. It was also a chance for pupils to mix across schools, disciplines and ages, try out new skills and extra-curricular experiences which offer ‘valuable life lessons.’
Windsor’s Schools’ Week is now planned to be an annual event.
It was James’ vision to create a special song, aptly named The Long Walk, to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee that led to the idea for the performance.
The Long Walk song was created in March of this year from a workshop at Windsor Castle.
Composer and songwriter Emily Barden and a team of schoolchildren worked on lyrics and music to reflect the views of The Queen and her reign.
Emily wanted it to be their words and interpretation of what those words mean.
On the day, Emily led the choir for their performance alongside James.
The performance was picked up by BBC London and broadcast on the day. The song will also be sung in schools across the UK.