Tea with the "Queen!"

Prior to departing for this exchange I had written in an earlier post, after receiving my Patriots tickets for the London game, that this exchange could only get better if I had tea with the Queen; to which Dave Provis responded that the Queen had been known to occasionally stop by Fairfield - well, yesterday, Her Majesty did indeed stop by Fairfield for tea!

My Year 10 drama students, Micaela included, surprised me with a fantastic, creative and original production as a goodbye and thank you for working with them this term. (Despite the fact that I have been an absolute rubbish drama teacher!)

I arrived for the term's last drama lesson a bit late, as Mel had given me a heads up that I needed to give the kids a few minutes because they were planning something for me to see, and they needed to get ready. I arrived to an empty drama room, except for Micaela and two other students seated on the floor. The stage was set with a banquet table and chairs, and some treats displayed. As I took my seat, one by one the students entered from "backstage" and began performing a "tea party"; each student dressed in costume and playing the part of various British characters. Their play was quite humorous and at one point,as I was a spectator I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

The tea party progressed with more and more people joining it, additional food being delivered and then one character made a phone call to the Queen to invite her to the tea party - the role of the Queen being played by Mel, dressed in her royal purple especially for the occasion. It was at that point that I was invited to join the tea party on stage and was presented with a thank you card and many well wishes from the group. Of course, at that point, the tears in my eyes were no longer from laughter, as I was deeply touched by this lovely gesture, completely generated by the students.

The tea party continued, everyone still in role, and then Jo, Ruth and Jayne (the rest of the English dept.) joined us also. The students performed karaoke, we played the "minister's cat" game and other drama games during the remainder of the lesson. Each student had cooked something for the tea party - from homemade scones and sausage rolls, to cucumber sandwiches and chocolate cake! I wish so much I had this performance on videotape, because for the first time all term I saw how truly creative and talented the entire group of students, acting together really are.

The students had planned this during their lesson last week, when Mel worked with them, and spent the entire of this week rehearsing during lunch times. I had wondered on several occasions about all the noise coming from the drama room all week long, as it is directly above my classroom. On one occasion three young ladies asked for the keys, and when I asked why they needed them, they hesitated for a brief second and then came up with some excuse about doing something for Mrs. Williams. I thought they were trying to avoid hurting my feelings, thinking they were continuing to rehearse a bullying drama concept, without my involvement, as I truly am rubbish with giving dramatic advice. So at that point, seeing their hesitation, I assured them that my feelings were not hurt one bit if they were working with a proper drama teacher. They nodded, took the keys and off they went. Even Micaela kept the secret, carrying on with the bullying production practicing and making some pointed remark about one student constantly complaining about having to use lunch time to rehearse for a whole week; sounded plausible to me, so I completely believed her.

It was a truly touching gesture and a memory I will fondly cherish long after I depart Fairfield. Thank you so much GCSE Drama Year 10 students - you truly are a remarkable group of young people and I have been truly privileged to have been your teacher for this short time.