gospel

Growing up in a suburb of Syracuse, N.Y. — where she sang gospel at church but also performed with the city’s predominantly white children’s choir — she learned to use her wit to put people at ease and honed her sense of when it was time to make an exit.

Gospel Oak head teacher John Hayes says he wanted to collaborate on something “more authentic, more useful to parents” while also recognising “as public servants with an incredibly important job, we do need to be held to account”.

Shabnam Eslambolchi, whose daughter is in Year 4 at Gospel Oak Primary School, really likes the way the new site combines descriptions, photos and charts to tell her more about the school than the current Ofsted report does.

“In some ways, it was a difficult decision for our family to be here tonight, but we felt like we wanted to celebrate his beautiful life and career,” she said, following a presentation that included an introduction from Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson leading a dozen gospel singers.

One musical number even outlines seizure first aid tips, and leads the audience in repeating back the safety steps via a call-and-response gospel song.