Guests were greeted by a musical piece from the Pink Ladies jazz ensemble, before entering the auditorium where pupil pianists were playing. Girls then welcomed the Headmaster, Mr Fillingham, and his guests with a drumming performance as they arrived on stage.

Following on from this Marie Winckler, the Chair of Governors, addressed the audience and awarded the Governors’ Prizes and Awards, including those who achieved outstanding GCSE results. Mr Fillingham then reflected on the highlights of the past academic year, before “turning back time” with a video showing a range of events such as the art exhibitions, science lab opening and sports day.

The Head Girl introduced our guest speaker Mariella Frostrup. Mariella began her career in music PR which led her into television and presenting; alongside this, she has reviewed films and art, and written for almost every mainstream UK newspaper and many magazines. In addition, Mariella is passionate about equal rights and women’s causes. She congratulated the girls on all their achievements, while telling them they could “shape the world any way in which they choose”, in turn urging the girls to use their education and “shout out to make the world a better place”, making sure their “voices are heard”. Mariella also went on to talk about social media and the negative impact it can have, stating that it isn’t “nearly as representative of real life as we like to pretend”. She went on to say “your families and the friends who truly love you, are a million times more important than anyone in the webiverse”. The Headmaster also held a Q & A with Mariella, asking questions submitted in advance by pupils and parents.

Prizes and awards were interspersed with some fantastic performances from the girls. Our dramatists took to the stage with ‘Oom-Pah-Pah’ from Oliver, which they will be performing later this term. Two of our Sixth Form pupils also gave a stunning rendition of ‘Vieni! Appaga il tuo consorte’ from Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Gluck.

The evening concluded with an address by the Head Girl, Mariam Mohammed, and a reading from a Third form pupil who won the essay competition earlier this term. The auditorium was then invited to join in singing the School Hymn.

Thank you to all family and friends who joined us for a wonderful evening of recognition, entertainment and inspiration. Congratulations to all of our girls and to those who won awards for their hard work, determination and progress in their subjects.