The final event of the school year is the Speech Day, which was traditionally held on the Saturday following the final day of the Summer Term. Traditionally, in the morning there was a church service in the Priory Church of St Bees, followed by luncheon in a marquee. In the afternoon the Prize-giving took place, with the prizes distributed by a notable figure from public life. Of note, prizes have been given by the politician the Lord Lloyd, Oliver Stanley, noted mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington and Lord Jones, former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, and Lord Inglewood.
Recently, in order to accommodate the pupils from the Far East who had to leave before the end of term in order to fly home, Speech Day was moved from the end of the Summer Term to the middle of the term, therefore allowing many more of the pupils the chance to experience the event. The structure of the day was also changed, moving the prize-giving ceremony to 11am ( directly following the priory service), and having lunch after this. This allowed the day to finish sooner, and those that did not want to have lunch could leave after the prize-giving ceremony.
Read more about this topic: St. Bees School
Famous quotes containing the words speech and/or day:
“What is this conversation, now secular,
A speech not mine yet speaking for me in
The heaving jelly of my tribal air?
It rises in the throat, it climbs the tongue,
It perches there for secret tutelage....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“All the great words, it seemed to Connie, were cancelled for her generation: love, joy, happiness, home, mother, father, husband, all these great, dynamic words were half dead now, and dying from day to day.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)