Novels, plays, poems and films attest to the centrality of Speech Day in the life of a school.
For those leaving, it is a summation of their time at the place; for those amid it all, a chance to take the annual check on the state of the nation; for those returning or visiting, the opportunity to make sure the school is up to scratch. All kinds of emotions swirl around the tent: pride, nerves, anticipation, a hankering for lunch. If last year the adults had their moment in the spotlight, this year the pupils took over. James Holroyd, Head of Academic Drama, entrusted with masterminding the event, recruited a brilliant team who delivered a superb event, spiced with humour and stand-out performances.
From Chapel, the community was guided to the marquee by beaming well-being advocates in their distinctive yellow ties. Along the way, Uppingham’s Royal Mile, you could enjoy performances from amped rock group ‘Active Radio’ in School House quad, or a cappella group 9.5 at the West Bank stage, or a reprise of sections from DNA outside the Theatre, and the stirring sounds of the pipe band as the Western Quad was reached. In the marquee, the Jazz Orchestra, under the baton of Mr Webster, was raising a storm.
As the event proper began, the boys from School House belted out their winning House Shout number, ‘Believer’, by Imagine Dragons. Tom Sowerby’s conducting style was brilliantly physical and the group sang with incredible verve, led by Charlie Lloyd-Jones’ punchy tenor voice. As the loud applause died down, the School Captains, Tom Regis and Anna Ewbank appeared with a throw-away insult about the judge getting the winning House wrong – how could they? It was all part of a running thread of interactive conversation carefully staged between the pupils, passing the baton from one speech to the next, continuity creating community.
Next thing, the screens popped to life to show irrepressible Fourth Formers blocked into colourful boxes announcing what was coming. Thomas Marriage owned the stage with his excellent delivery (in French) of the name of the prize given to the pupils who had won the prize for excellence in French. The wit continued with original fanfares composed by Joshua Law, Tim Tian, Joseph Hall, Henry Alexander and Harry Scott-Burt for the various staff who took to the stage to hand out the prizes.
Josh also introduced the music section of proceedings, where Sam Abbott on the oboe, accompanied by Mr Ffrench, showed why he won the recital contest earlier in the year. Francesca Banks spoke warmly about the creative life of the school, before giving way to an exuberant Annie Smith on the specific achievements of the Drama Dept. Entertainment came in the shape of a moving duet from Legally Blonde between Millicent Felix and Sebastiano O’Grady,with Miss Stevens on piano. Finally, an adult: Barbara Matthews (OU), Chair of the Trustees, spoke about the amazing spirit the school fosters in all its activities and the depth of support the whole staff provide for pupils.
While tech was set up in miraculously quick fashion for pop group ‘Infinite Horizon’, the Fourth Formers reappeared on the screens to show us a cheekier commentating style, including staged horror at the thought that eventually the Headmaster would speak! Freddie Dell, Toby Fowler, Tuchchapong Phoorimeti, Carl Ross and Mr Smith (Music Dept) performed with panache, earning solid applause. This segued into a screening of sporting highlights with Freya Radford reciting a newly written version of Kipling’s ‘If—’ by poet Deanna Rodger. Xavier Cranwell took to the stage with smiling aplomb for the sports announcements, including news of the winners of the previous day’s Sports Day: Constables for the Girls and School House for the Boys.
Izzie Scott led us into the world of the broad-ranging co-curricular M.A.D. programme before the cast of Legally Blonde took over to deliver the outrageous number ‘Gay or European’. Even as the stage was being assembled, Blair Morton was ad-libbing his way through the crowd giving shout outs to his mother among others. The effervescence of this number with Millie once again taking the lead among the ensemble – ending with a wild waving of rainbow flags – was a treat.
Dr Maloney was pleased as punch, rightly so, when he came to fill his strictly limited allotted time. His words focussed back on the pupil body – thanking them for how they shape the school and the Uppingham community; applauding the senior pupils and their leadership; expressing his pride in the achievements of the pupils who get involved in committees that help guide decision-making and who embrace our outreach programmes and make a difference to those they work with. So many Uppinghamians demonstrating their commitment to projects in school and outside; an inspiration to the younger generation. They are all part of our collective success.
The School Captains returned to round off events: “We are actors, we are sports enthusiasts, we are musicians, we are creative in the arts, we are academics.” Speech Day was a great success.
And then suddenly, there was more. The glue that binds us is the spirited singing in Chapel every morning. Mr Kennedy (OU), the incoming Director of Music, stirred the audience to its feet and 2,250 people collectively raised the roof with a banging rendition of the ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ from Verdi’s Nabucco. A fitting end to an event of operatic scale and bravura showmanship.
