Greetings from St Bede’s College.

We have had a good week, with a pleasing turn-out of parents and boys to the Careers and Subject Selection evening that was held at the College on Wednesday. With two weeks to go to the practise exams, there is a heightened sense of urgency in the classrooms as well. 

Our top sports teams are doing well as they approach the business end of the season as detailed in the newsletter later.

On Thursday at assembly, we had our Cultural Honours Pocket Assembly, and I include here some thoughts I shared with the boys...

It strikes me every year how often those involved in the Arts, some of whom are awarded cultural pockets, often have no experience of that activity when they were interviewed coming into the College. Discussed at the interview of each year’s cohort, are the opportunities offered at secondary school not only in the sports domain, but also in the Arts.
Most of you have played sport in your primary school days, and most of you continue to do so in your secondary schooling. That’s not the same with the Arts.
So often, public speakers who compete in the Press and BLS, have not done public-speaking at primary school, but step up to learn the skill to do so while at secondary school.
Most of the 15 – 16 boys who competed at the Rock Quest had not been exposed to music lessons until they came to secondary school.
In the years that we did the Smokefree Stage Challenge, most of the boys (especially the Juniors) had never been near a stage like the size of the one at the Horncastle Arena, let alone performed something on it!
Most of the 60 – 70 boys who sang in the Big Sing this year would never have sung at all in a venue as magnificent as the Town Hall.
Invariably the experience of walking up to any stage, regardless of size or grandeur, is daunting for the first time, but hopefully these boys will look back and say that it was an enjoyable experience, even if it was after the event! And I know they would have learned something from this experience about themselves.
That experience gained from performing has so many transferrable skills – the actor that memorises the lines and not only delivers them word by word, but delivers them with meaning and conviction that makes it compelling to an audience. The speaker that not only learns his speech, but also convinces an audience.
How are those skills transferrable?
Many Bedean lawyers in the last ten years who have studied drama as a subject at school, recognise the skills they learned have stood them in good stead in a courtroom setting. This is merely only one example.
The skills learned in public speaking are equably transferrable – at some stage of your lives you will make speeches or presentations, even to small groups like the sports teams you play in or coach, at your 21st birthday or your best friend’s 21st or wedding. The skills learned in drama and public speaking are not just in preparation for a career in acting or as a politician where many speeches are made.
The confidence gained from conquering nerves in performing anything is another life skill that involvement in the Arts can give you experience in while you are at secondary school.
In the last few months, I have met many old boys, some of whom are generously donating to the Chapel Appeal. I spoke to one, a man who came to St Bede’s in the ‘60s, who was a very good sportsman and an academic, but he said the highlight of his school career was an involvement in the musical. Not only did he thoroughly enjoy the experience – primarily he said, because of the fact that it was with SBC sister school, but also he found out skills learned from performing live, he would otherwise have never known about. Now a most successful businessman, he cites that experience as not only a way of discovering talents he never knew he had, but also as the launch-pad to an appreciation of the ARTS for the rest of his life.
So, not only do the Arts teach skills that are transferable, but it also fosters an appreciation of music, art and drama that brings enjoyment to your life.
Congratulations to those boys recognised today for cultural pockets. Many of you are involved in not only one discipline. I call you the ‘general practitioners’ because invariably you are involved in a wide variety of cultural events, choir, barbershop, Rockquest, musicals, or being asked to play at events like the Willows Dinner next weekend and the functions we will hold around the opening of the new Chapel. I want to acknowledge that but also the hardworking staff led by Mrs King.
The other point I’d make is the influence you have in helping the younger boys conquer their fears and encourage them to have a go in whatever facet of the Arts faculty. Congratulations and thank you.

Until next week,

J.G. Boyle