On Thursday 20 June 2019, Year 9 took a day trip to Amnesty UK Action Centre in London.

The girls were introduced to the work that Amnesty International do globally to raise awareness of, and lobby about, human rights abuse, and explored the role that music plays in communicating powerful messages about human rights as a whole. They attended a workshop on free and guided writing, aimed at helping the girls write lyrics and be creative and imaginative with the use of words and poems.

This trip  is linked to Queenwood Year 9 Music curriculum, and our exploration of the genre of Protest Songs. In the afternoon, the girls presented the finished protest songs/lyrics that they had composed during the term and performed them live in front of  their peers and the Amnesty judges. The winners and runner-ups results of the competition are as follows:

SONG CATEGORY

• Winner: 'I Will Be Brave' by Olivia T, Aemilia C, Mia Di G and Ella M
  Runner-up: 'Faith' by Molly W, Sofia M, Konyin S and Lianna M
• Runner-up: 'Home' by Ember S, Lola S, Farida M-K and Isabelle C

LYRICS CATEGORY

• Winner: 'Little Girl' by Tilly M, Mia F and Sophie K
• Runner-up: 'Speak Up' by Lucy L, Gracie de W, Samatha M and Darcie C
• Runner-up: 'Every 40 Seconds' by Georgie I, Sophia M, Lucy D and Abi R

Q girls have been involved in this very worthwhile project for the past five years, and have enjoyed considerable success, winning the overall National Amnesty Protest Songwriting competition in 2014 and the runner-up prize in 2016.