The school held its annual Presentation Evening on Thursday, November 6th. While the members of the audience were taking their seats they were entertained by a very professional solo piano performance by Edward, a sixth form A Level Music student, who has an interview for a place with the Royal College of Music in December. Hopefully he will be successful.
Edward
Headteacher, Mr Gareth Davies, gave a review of the past school year. He said that the school was at the heart of the community and that the real stars of the school were the students. There had been a record number of applications of which he was very proud and which showed that his school continues to move in the right direction by providing an outstanding and inclusive education for young people in the area. Every year group had been given the experience of a trip to London. Black History Month had been celebrated and students had learned that difference was more about what unites people than what divides them. A topic which really interested the audience was his reference to the school’s environmental sustainability provided by their bee-keeping. Their first harvest of honey from the 40.000 bees is expected soon. He told the students if they continue to work hard they will achieve. Finally he praised his staff who are all passionate about their subjects and the parents and guardians who work in partnership with the school to create aspirations for their children.
A presentation of a framed photograph for winning a photography competition, previously introduced by Deputy Head Students, Pearl and Ethan, was presented to Finnley by the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Reeta Chamdal.
Head Student Amber
Head Student, Amber, thanked the Deputy Mayor for making the presentation, then proceeded to address the audience. She spoke very eloquently, congratulating her fellow students for their individual achievements and encouraging them to keep challenging themselves to keep learning and growing, to take opportunities and accept that life was a work in progress. To illustrate her point Amber admitted that as a Year 7 student starting secondary school she had been quite shy but, being allowed by teachers and parents to explore her passions, at the age of 18 she was now confident enough to stand on stage and address a large group of people. This speech was very impressive which was not a total surprise as Amber won the KS5 Prize for Drama.
The guest speaker, Jonathan Marcos, was introduced by Mr Davies. Mr Marcos is a professional with expertise in treasury management, liquidity strategy and capital markets. He spoke of his humble beginnings in life but wanted to show his young audience that anything is possible. In his youth he began going to basketball training sessions where he also learnt important life lessons and key values. He eventually went to university where he gained a degree in Maths and Economics which enabled him to move into the Corporate World where he quickly learned how to make decisions. Based on his experience he advised students to decide, what you want to be” and to make sure they surrounded themselves with like-minded individuals. The final piece of advice he shared with them was: When you don’t know what to do, take a step forward and don’t worry about the bigger picture.” Hopefully the young people would consider this advice for their futures. The Deputy Head Students, Pearl and Ethan thanked Mr Marcos for his uplifting speech and presented him with a gift. Ethan was later presented with The John Goulborn Award(named after the school’s first Headteacher) for services to the school and community.
Mr Jonathan Marcos
Deputy Head Students Ethan and Pearl
Lacey with The Mizen’s sparkle award
Next came the central part of the evening’s event, the presentation of Subject Awards by the Deputy Mayor, Staff Awards presented by Deputy Head Teacher, Ms Marie Coltman and Bestowed Awards ( a number are in the name of past students, staff or friends of the school ) presented by Jonathan Marcos. One of these that had a particularly poignant resonation was The Mizen’s sparkle award, won by Lacey Year 11. It is named after Jimmy Mizen, who was killed a day after his 16th birthday in 2008. The school has worked for many years with the Mizen Foundation set up by Jimmy’s parents which is an organisation that works for peace, hope and forgiveness in memory of their son. The Sparkle Award is for students who have the same qualities as Jimmy and “ sparkle “ in the community. It was very touching to watch a video on the screen showing Mrs Mizen congratulating the winner. In between the three classes of rewards the audience was treated with with a performance by Ruislip High School Choir of “Can’t Stop The Feeling ” by J. Timberlake. There was also a poetry reading of “Blueprint” by Sofia Sima which was followed by Closing Remarks by Assistant Headteacher, Ms Jo Cotton.
The whole evening celebrated the school which benefits the students and the wider community which it was tasked to do from its opening.
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