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I watched Oliver! on Wednesday night in one of the school's theatres. The exclamation mark is obligatory apparently–a condition of the licensing rights that it always be used. I am not a great fan of exclamation marks as a general rule; they seem, someone once said, to be the typographical equivalent of laughing at one’s own jokes. Or, of course, a sign that one is eleven years old.
The thing about watching Oliver! is that it made me feel old. I don’t mean that in any way that might suggest a critique of the performance. Far from it - it was most entertaining and impressive. No, it was in watching these students, performing with such maturity and nuance, who were only five minutes ago playing handball in their light blue shirts and arguing over Pokémon Cards. How quaint; modern Junior School students of course argue over Silly Bands. Progress.
As I walked away from the theatre, two things occupied my mind: the first the extraordinary breadth of opportunity that exists for students at this school and how important it is to encourage your children to avail of them; the second whether the Oom-Pa-Pa melody lodged in my head would require surgery to remove.
I accompanied some Grade 4 and 5 students to St Joseph’s Home midweek and I cannot begin to describe how impressive they were with patients who are, in some cases, quite unresponsive. They were far more comfortable with their tasks than I. There is no amount of classroom time, writing, reflection or analysis that can achieve what these children gain from serving other people. Nor can classroom work with pen, paper, computers achieve what drama achieves.
Only two weeks to go and then holidays exclamation mark exclamation mark.
Have a restful weekend.
Brian
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