On Tuesday, we were delighted to welcome back the BGS community for a succession of Prize Giving events, hosted in the beautiful marquee setting within the school grounds.
The Prize Giving events celebrated the success of students within Year 7 up to Upper Sixth, who have gone above and beyond this year. The prizes ranged from Academic Excellence to Citizenship.
Throughout the day, the different year groups celebrated with their peers and enjoyed refreshments and canapes on the lawn, which created a lovely atmosphere for all in attendance. All students engaged in the festivities as they wrote their personal ‘Bold, Imaginative and Reflective’ reflections on parcel tags displayed beautifully on a board outside the marquee. This idea was inspired by a 2019 trip to Japan, where students and staff visited temples and witnessed worshippers writing prayers and wishes onto Ema (絵馬); which are small wooden plaques.
During each ceremony the students were treated to wonderful musical and speech and drama performances from their cohort before listening to an address from BGS Headmistress Mrs Gibson, which reflected on the BGS values, in particular, the importance of always being imaginative.
A lively and full marquee saw the Years 11-Upper Sixth prize winners, parents, governors and teachers in attendance for the final ceremony, with our special guest speaker and alumna, Emma Banks (BHS 1986) delivering an inspirational speech about her career in the creative arts industry. A trailblazer, maverick and hugely influential agent in the global music industry, Emma represents U2, Kylie Minogue, Florence and the Machine, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles to name just a few.
In 2018, Emma received the highly prestigious Music Industry Trusts Award (MITs) in recognition of her contributions to the music industry. She was honoured twice by the U.K.’s Woman of the Year Awards for the Music Industry – winning the Special Achievement Award in 1997 and Woman of the Year in 2007. In 2015 she was awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award at the Music Week Women in Music Awards.
Impressing the students to work hard, and say ‘yes’ so you do not miss out any opportunities that come your way, Emma said: “Do what you can do, don’t do what you are expected to do and go above and beyond. For the first couple of years after you leave the education system, whether it is from school, university or college, my recommendation is that you work harder than you have ever worked before. These are the years that set you up for what’s to come; there is time for work life balance, but that is later. Many tasks that you will be asked to perform earlier on in your career will be tedious, but just don’t do what you are asked to do, make sure you do what you are capable of doing. It’s like a boot camp. If you are being sent into battle, there are millions of warriors that want the same thing as you, so you have got to be better, stronger and more capable than all of them…”
Emma passionately concluded in her speech: “I’ve been really lucky, but I have also made my luck, there’s a phrase which you have all heard before ‘the harder I work, the luckier I become’, and I really do believe that. What can I leave you with – seize every opportunity that presents itself to you, say yes when you can, saying yes is a privilege, it is so important. Don’t be scared or take stupid risks, but occasionally live on the edge a bit as it is quite a cool place to be. There are going to be highs and lows, and each one will be a really important learning experience and will be part of your development. Don’t be afraid of failure – if someone can give me a list of acts I have passed on that go on to be huge, it’s embarrassing! I’ve had the highs and lows; keep moving forward. You’ve all got so much ahead of you and are some of the best and brightest women that we’ve got, we need you. You have all been given a fabulous start with an incredible education and whatever you do next, I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity. The final and most important thing I want to say is to be ‘kind’.”
The audience were enthralled by Emma’s speech, we are very proud that she is part of the BGS community.
View a collection of photos on our Flickr gallery here.
Prize Giving programmes
Years 7-8, view here.
Years 9-10, view here.
Years 11-Upper Sixth, view here.
