17th June 2015
St Brendan’s Sixth Form College choir were one of 20 schools in England and Wales to be selected as part of the ceremonies that officially welcomed the teams to the Rugby World Cup 2015.
The ceremonies include the formal presentation of official Tournament caps and Rugby World Cup 2015 participation medals.
The school was chosen following an application process, led by leading independent charity Youth Sport Trust, which was open to all schools in England and Wales. With over 100 applications, the standard was very high resulting in a competitive judging process which was carried out by Tournament Organisers, England Rugby 2015, the Youth Sport Trust and the RFU.
St Brendan’s Sixth Form College welcomed Georgia in Bristol.
The successful schools included a mixture of state and private schools with both primary and secondary age groups involved. With schools selected from all around England and Wales, the Tournament reach continues to broaden with people across the UK joining to celebrate Rugby in its biggest year.
Managing Director of England Rugby 2015, Stephen Brown, said: “Congratulations to St Brendan’s Sixth Form College on being selected to be involved in the Welcome Ceremonies for Rugby World Cup 2015. We were really pleased with the response that we got from schools wanting to be involved. The standard of the applications was very high and I would like to thank all schools that took the time to apply.”
The choirs varied in size from 18 to 50 pupils and will perform a range of musical styles, including choral and gospel. Each choir were asked to sing the official Rugby World Cup anthem, World in Union, during the ceremonies that will officially welcome the 20 teams to the Tournament and will be a celebration of Rugby.
Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver added: “We hope that it will impact not only the pupils performing, but the whole school to engage with the Tournament in a way that inspires learning. The Youth Sport Trust is delighted to support and work with St Brendan’s Sixth Form College and England Rugby 2015 and we look forward to seeing great creativity in the school performances.”
Steve Grainger, Rugby Development Director of the RFU added: “Schools across the nation are eagerly looking forward to Rugby World Cup 2015 and it is fantastic to see such a wide range of them playing an active role in the Welcome Ceremonies.
“We are working hard to expose more schools to Rugby Union and its values, encouraging students to watch games, take up the sport and join local clubs. Through our All Schools programme we will have 400 more secondary schools playing Rugby by the time the Tournament starts, over 1,000 have signed up so far to the online schools resource pack linked to the Tournament and there has been a great response from schools to the Festival of Rugby, which will run from June 10 until October 31.”
Michael Jaffrain, Principal at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College said:
“This is a fantastic and exciting opportunity for the college and a reflection of the high standard of performances that our Performing Arts (Musical Theatre), Music and Dance Departments achieve. We are delighted to have been selected to perform at such a prestigious event. It is great to be involved in the Rugby World Cup 2015, as St Brendan’s has a long and successful rugby tradition that the college is also celebrating with this opportunity.”
Rugby World Cup 2015
