Speech Day
On Saturday 27 June the Eastbourne College community gathered to celebrate Speech Day. The whole event was blessed with clear skies and bright sunshine – Eastbourne certainly lived up to its reputation as the sunniest place in Britain.
The day started with a service in All Saint’s Church attended by all pupils, staff and parents of choristers and Upper Sixth leavers. The choir and the congregation raised the roof with their singing voices.
After the service everyone moved to the Congress Theatre where they were joined by the friends and families of all College pupils. Mr Cris Symes, Deputy Headmaster welcomed everyone to the theatre before Mr Philip Broadley, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors, addressed the audience celebrating the achievements of departing pupils and sharing his excitement about Project 150.
Mr Broadley was joined on the stage by Mr Jonny Gilbert, Assistant Head Academic and Mr David Ruskin, Assistant Head Teaching and Learning, to present major prizes to pupils from all year groups. Amongst the presentations were two awards that elicited truly outstanding responses of support and emotion from everyone in the audience – the John Le Brocq prize and the Tom Lewis Memorial prize.
Following brief speeches from the outgoing Heads of School, Joe Scott and Hebe Williams, Mr Simon Davies, Headmaster, brought the formal part of the day to its conclusion with his heartfelt address about why Eastbourne College, its values and community are unique and so very special.
On leaving the Congress Theatre everyone made their way back to College Field for an afternoon of relaxed celebration. Pupils and parents gathered in house groups to enjoy refreshments and picnics whilst enjoying entertainment provided by College musicians from the balcony of the cricket pavilion. At 2.30pm picnicking families cleared the centre of the field to allow a 1st XI versus OEs 20:20 cricket match to get underway. Spectators were treated to a very balanced match which resulted in a very amicable draw.
During the afternoon various events and exhibitions of pupils’ work were open for vistors across the College. These were all very well attended.
Speech Day 2015 was a superb and memorable occasion for all involved. The College community came together to mark a year of outstanding successes, to celebrate the achievements of its pupils and to hear more of the exciting developments on the horizon.
