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The exams, beginning almost before Easter is over for the IB candidates, with GCSE and A Levels following soon after and stretching to the penultimate week of term, dominate April, May and June. For the Sixth Formers they are make or break, representing the culmination of their entire school career, for the Fifth Formers an important staging post, the results determining what courses they follow from now on. No wonder then that there has been a palpable air of quiet determination and academic seriousness about the school. The new Sixth Form centre has seen its footfall increase exponentially, the Library has never been busier. If at times through the year it seems that Wellington is far more than just a school, the Summer Term reminds us of its core business. Good luck indeed to all the candidates, but their tireless revision suggests that very little has been left to chance.
This year’s Big Top show, played to an audience of 4,000, was extraordinary and confirmed Speech Day’s billing as the most exciting event in the Wellington Year. Alongside the speeches and prizes for academic, sporting, and cultural distinction, the standout moments of the year were reprised, with brilliant performances from our musicians, actors, singers and dancers, serving to whet the appetite for the marquee lunches, and the afternoon’s sports matches, cavalry charges, exhibitions, and Field Gun runs before the day came to an end with the iconic Master’s Callover. This was Wellington on the grand scale, a glorious coming together of the traditions and talents that make this school so special.
But if Speech Day is all public performance, then Graduation Day is a far more intimate celebration of a Wellingtonian’s school life. The Leavers’ Service gives a final chance for the Year Group to congregate in Chapel, while the Black tie Ball that concludes the day is a collective outpouring of energetic emotion. However, it is the Graduation Ceremony in the Annenberg that lies at the heart of the day. The Master summed up the contribution of the Year Group as a whole, before each HM spoke about the journey their House groups had enjoyed. However, it was the individual speeches, back in the Houses that were the most poignant. As the boys and girls heard their contribution to the school summed up by their HM, it became clear that at Wellington one size certainly does not fit all: each Wellingtonian brings their own special abilities to the table, and builds a unique and personal Wellington that is exactly suited just to them. These speeches were full of warmth, love and respect, confirming not only how well the HMs know their young charges, but also what astonishingly varied and individual lives are led here.
