All Edge Grove children in Years 3 – 5 were invited to audition for The Edge Factor, with the Head of the Lower School, Emma Simmons, acting as Simon Cowell to narrow them down to a final group of five acts from each year group.
"The children all love performing and I was looking for something that every pupil could become involved in and have fun with while raising money for charity. The TV show is hugely popular and a regular topic of conversation so we created our own 'Edge Factor' singing competition," explains Mrs Simmons.
The acts which got through to the final then performed in front of the rest of the pupils and the parents of the finalists. Headmaster Mike Davies, together with his wife, Isabelle, and the School Nurse, Lynn Tompkins, were the judges. The results are:
Year 3 – Charlotte Chadwick-Jones and Tara Tripp
Year 4 – Robbie Taylor, Josh Kaye, Ben Stein, James Hyland, Amber Jupp, Bronte Sherborne and Annabelle Edgley
Year 5 – Melanie Metcalf and Holly Maughan
Unlike its TV equivalent, all the judges cast their votes and deliberated seriously, eventually choosing the group from Year 4 as the overall winners, with their rendition from Grease.
"It was a wonderful event and the children love to take part," says Mr Davies. "The costumes and choreography were splendid too and a wonderful evening was had by all."
Next term, Upper School pupils will have their own chance to perform in "Edge Grove Has Talent", a talent show based on the TV show, Britain's Got Talent.