Last Thursday evening Fairfield hosted their annual "Speech Night". The easiest way for me to explain this evening is to equate it to the tradition (or what it has evolved to be in the last ten years at Northbridge) of Class Night for our graduating Seniors.
Last year's Year 11 students, who left Fairfield and have since gone on to Sixth Form College, vocational training or the work force, most of whom are 16 or 17, return to Fairfield for a celebration of their achievements. They listen to speeches by the Headmaster, a guest speaker, and are entertained by musicians currently studying at the school. They receive their GCSE certificates and several little gifts. Highest achievers in each subject level are honored with a special award and gifts, seemingly books pertaining to those particular areas of study.
The evening began with a delicious roast dinner for the staff, lovingly cooked and served by Kath and Josephine, complete with Yorkshire puddings, roasted potatoes and several very yummy puddings to finish off the meal (desserts to all you Americans.) Micaela has determined that all sweets (desserts) are termed puddings here. The meal is provided in an effort to feed all those staff members who desire to stay for the evening activities, but who live too far from the school to return home and come back. It was very much appreciated!
All returning students gathered in the art room to mingle with the staff prior to the start of the night.
I was struck by the absence of student participation in this speech night, other than the musicians performing and the current Year 11 prefects who welcomed the guest speaker and assisted with the presentation of awards. At NHS both graduating and current students play a large role in Class Night ceremonies- making speeches, singing songs, playing instruments, and making presentations. Conversely, I was also surprised that no one from the leaving students stood to thank or recognize the staff for their years of dedication to the departed students' education. I am not certain that the same student/teacher relationships are fostered on this side of the pond as back at home; but that could be a false impression from this one function. I was also struck by the inclusion of hymns into the ceremony, on that token it would be comparable to our ecumenical baccalaureate church service for our seniors. I did like the creativity and uniqueness of the gift given to the guest speaker: a gift basket which included a leg of lamb from a Fairfield sheep, eggs from the Fairfield chickens and a scarf made from the wool of the Fairfield Alpaca's.
Overall, it was a nice evening and I was pleased that I had taken part. I am disappointed however, that I did not win the pool of money associated with a guess of the length of Mr. Barker's speech. Each staff member paid a pound ( a sum I thought should be upped to a tenner- typical American) for a guess,and one member of staff, my friend and PE teacher, Ian, uses a stop watch to time it...person closest wins the pool. Apparently this same tradition continues for Mr. Barker's speech at the Christmas Party...now I have a better idea of how much time to expect perhaps my chances at winning will be better.
I think this could be another tradition I can implement back at home...what,with a new principal and all... seems like a good wager...and everyone pays attention because they are all waiting to see how close they get to the winning time! ...and then behave very badly when they learn that a new teacher trainee actually wins! Good job Vicki!
No comments:
Post a Comment