At 8am on 25th April (rather too early judging by the bleary looks), 48 members of the Doncaster Schools Senior Orchestra assembled to set off for Queen Elizabeth school in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria.

It was in October that Mr Dickinson first suggested that the group might benefit from a trip and concert out of Doncaster - as with all Music Centre groups, pupils come from a large number of schools and the bonding effect of such trips has a really positive benefit on the standard of playing, as does the fact of performing to an “outside” audience. In consultation with a college friend who is now an assistant head at the host school and with whom Mr Dickinson had previously organized VCB concerts, an itinerary was gradually assembled to include a visit to White Scar caves (there are more tall pupils in the orchestra than we realized),

an aquarium (including mice, snakes and tortoises - don’t ask), a steam train, and a boat trip on Lake Windermere.

The centrepiece, of course, was the concert which was presented jointly with the school’s swing band. This was to an appreciative audience and the DSSO members acquitted themselves well with some of the best playing we have heard from them in a concert setting. This produced many positive comments and, judging by the number of DSSO members stating on a subsequent evaluation form that they wished to see more such trips, pupils presumably felt this to be a worthwhile venture also. As a result, the conductors, Mr Eke and Mr Dickinson, will look to provide similar future opportunities as part of the orchestra’s continued development.
Grateful thanks to all staff who helped in any way, in particular to: Mrs Hooper, Mrs Thomas and Mrs French for accompanying the trip; Mrs Roberts for acting as our 24hr emergency contact, and Mrs McAteer in the office who coordinated most of the paperwork and sorted countless problems before we were even aware they existed. Here’s to the next trip!