On Wednesday the 20th of December 2023, the Sir John Leman High School & Sixth form concluded their annual RAG (Raising and Giving) celebrations with a bang. The final week of term consisted of daily celebrations including teachers participating in a game of family fortunes, a lip sync battle, bake sales, and 'I'm a Teacher, get me out of here!'. However, it was on the last day before the Christmas holidays that saw the annual and much loved, Leman's Got Talent.

 

Leman's Got Talent has consistently been the final, and most popular event in the school’s week of celebrations and this year was no different. The beginning of the lunchtime break saw queues forming almost immediately and the school's main hall quickly filled with students of both the lower school and sixth form, as well as many members of staff.

 

The event utilises all of the school's incredible facilities, including the sound booth, spotlights, a smoke machine, a confetti cannon, UV lights illuminating painted boards, as well as the talent of all the students that run them. The students, organised by the RAG director of the sixth form council, have been working tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of the event, by rehearsing, automating lighting cues, mixing the audios of different acts, and preparing all of the necessary staging.

 

This year's event kicked off with a band of year 8 students singing the Christmas classic 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree', followed by "food reviewers", who gave their live reactions to trying foods such as jollof rice and shepherd's pie, as well as inviting members of the audience to partake in their act. Next came two highly talented singing acts, followed by the hilarious relief of a quartet of comedians. Finally, the audience were treated to a beautiful rendition of Amy Grant's 'Grown Up Christmas List', followed by a year 10 student who performed an incredible original song.

 

This year's show did have to endure a few technical difficulties, with a number of microphones failing to actually turn on, but all of the acts and the team running the show all pulled through and managed to make everything go ahead, turning the event into "a unique and very random show that the whole school loved", as I was told afterwards by year 12 student, Terry-Kai.

 

Everyone proved to enjoy the show, however, due to time restraints after the performances had overrun the 40 minutes of the lunchtime break, there proved to be no time for voting, where typically, students would be asked to cheer and scream for their favourite act. After the traditional competitive element was removed, one student said "everyone winning was a bit naff". However, the entire week of raising and giving to charity has made over £3000, which will be split between three organisations- one local, one national, and one international.