Notable Events in The School Year
Ascensio Scholarum
The Ascensio Scholarum is inherited from the College of St Omer. In its present form, it is the opening address of the headmaster at the beginning of the year to the entire school gathered in the Academy Room. Previously, it was a formal transition for pupils from one playroom to the next at the beginning of the year. It involved a pupil from each year announcing to the playroom of the year below them that the next playroom had been vacated by the senior pupils. The students and their belongings would then move up to their next playroom. This is how it acquired the name, "the ascension of the school".
Campion Day
Campion Day is celebrated annually on the Feast of St Edmund Campion. The first period (lesson) of the day is as usual, but followed by Mass, for which Lower Line must change into suits. This is followed by a lunch which takes the form of a Christmas dinner for Lower Line. In the afternoon, pupils and staff are allowed to change into casual clothing and Rhetoric host the Rhetoric Fair in the Ambulacrum for the whole school, with stalls and entertainment, the proceeds from which go to the school's charity, Learning to Care. In the evening a formal dinner is held for Higher Line.
Poetry Banquet
The poetry Banquet takes place in February in a marquee erected in the Ambulacrum. Poets donate raffle prizes and serve dinner to invited guests. At the end of which, they are free to join in the entertainment with their parents and friends, which features, among other things, performances from pupil bands. The proceeds from the evening largely fund the Stonyhurst Children's Holiday Trust week (see above, Religious Life).
Great Academies
Great Academies, although different in its present form, is a continuation of a tradition begun at St Omers. The first to take place at Stonyhurst was on 6 August 1795.
In 1810, it was marked by a twist of fate. The new Academy Room was to be inaugurated at the occasion on 7 August with the delivery of a prologue recalling memories from St Omers but it had to be called off: Thomas Weld, benefactor of the estate to the Jesuits had held a dinner as a treat to the boys in the Top Refectory on 31 July. After singing "I am mad Tom, behold me" at the boys' request, he complained of feeling unwell, and was assisted to his room, where he died in the early morning.
Today Great Academies weekend takes place annually at the end of the first half of the Summer Term. It is an occasion when the school is on display - there are exhibitions, musical performances, the school play, sporting events, as well as prize-giving and the headmaster's speech. It culminates with the Rhetoric ball and mass for Rhetoric pupils and their parents the following morning.
Rhetoric Ball
The Rhetoric Ball, a celebration for those in their final year, and about to sit their A-Levels, closes Great Academies. It is held, like the Poetry Banquet, in a marquee erected in the Ambulacrum. Rhetoricians are accompanied by their families and served dinner.
Read more about this topic: School Life At Stonyhurst College
Famous quotes containing the words notable, events, school and/or year:
“In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. The Seminole Indians surrendered to the Tamiami Trail. From the Everglades the remnants of this race emerged, soon after the trail was built, to set up their palm-thatched villages along the road and to hoist tribal flags as a lure to passing motorists.”
—For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Man is a stream whose source is hidden. Our being is descending into us from we know not whence. The most exact calculator has no prescience that somewhat incalculable may not balk the very next moment. I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events than the will I call mine.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We have passed the time of ... the laisser-faire [sic] school which believes that the government ought to do nothing but run a police force.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“The first year was critical to my assessment of myself as a person. It forced me to realize that, like being married, having children is not an end in itself. You don’t at last arrive at being a parent and suddenly feel satisfied and joyful. It is a constantly reopening adventure.”
—Anonymous Mother. From the Boston Women’s Health Book Collection. Quoted in The Joys of Having a Child, by Bill and Gloria Adler (1993)