I had a fantastic time at speech night tonight!
At the beginning of each school year we have a speech night in the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester where people who have just got their GCSE and A level results back, and people who have won sporting prizes or awards for being a good member if the form go up on stage and shake hands with people and receive certificates and trophies and (this year) beautifully covered, hardback, classic novels. The head teacher, and a guest speaker, and the head girl make speeches about the past year and other stuff that can often leave you feeling quite sleepy.
Before all this though, we have a performance co-ordinated by the performing arts department. There were 7 items this year and although I have been in the school choir for the last four speech nights, I’ve never been in the orchestra or cantamus before (another, somewhat smaller, choir) and I had such fun being a part of it all.
I REALLY enjoyed the songs that we sang in senior choir and cantamus but then the last one was just UGH. The two choirs (junior and senior) joined with the orchestra to sing/play a Les Mis medley and it felt fabulous! Every single part was amazing.
I have SO much respect for the three teachers that put all of the musical aspects of the night together. They are incredibly enthusiastic and passionate about everything they ever do (in school at least) and, wow, it payed off. I had such a wonderful time thanks to them. All the time they spent arranging the music and rehearsing it all goes almost uncredited and they are just unbelievably amazing.
If our school didn’t have those teachers then I don’t think anything other than work and sport would happen there, rendering the whole of our secondary education a rather dull experience. So yeah, time well spent.