Parents and carers of children at Northdown Primary School, Margate, were entertained last week with a whole school performance of The Lion King on the school field to see out the old school year.
Accompanied by live music from Rock On Music – specialist music teachers who come in to lead music lessons across the school – the children sang their way through the hit musical’s iconic songs.
The show kicked off with the departing Year 6 singing The Circle of Life, followed by Year 5’s rendition of “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”. After each song, the Year 6s acted out the story of betrayal and friendship complete with giant backdrops and characters’ faces, which the children had made in class.
Year R and Year 1 treated everyone to an enthusiastic performance of Hakuna Matata before Years 2 and 3 brought a tear to many an eye with the heartfelt ballad, Can you Feel the Love Tonight?
The show culminated in a grand finale where more than 300 children encircled their parents to sing the closing number. Each child had made an animal mask and designed their own T-shirt over the last few weeks as part of their transition activities.
Headteacher Mr Harris said: “We paid for all children to travel up to London earlier this year to watch The Lion King in the West End as part of our wider curriculum offer.
“Taking inspiration from the professionals, the children have been working hard on their own interpretation of the story. Watching them grow in confidence over the course of the rehearsals has been amazing. Standing up in front of such a massive crowd will be a memory they will take with them far beyond their time at Northdown.”
Logan, a Year 6 pupil, summed up what the whole thing meant to him: “The experience was amazing – it felt like I was in a real West End show.”