A very special Lower Awards Evening

Our annual tribute to outstanding Bridgewater Lower School pupils was the finest yet:

It was an absolute pleasure to once again pay tribute to the hardworking and gifted pupils who had been nominated for awards at this year’s Lower School Awards Evening. The evening was particularly special this year for a variety of reasons and included the following events:

Whilst being provided with canapés, our audience was treated to a selection of outstanding live performances by pupils who took part in our recent KS3 Music Showcase under the wing of our Head of Music, Ciara O’Flanagan. After our Y7 and Y8 pupils had been presented with their selection of awards, our guest speaker Ben Holder took to the stage. Ben is an ex-pupil whose rapid rise to success as a West End musical director, including work on the current production of Bugsy Malone, meant that he had to dash up to us straight from providing Kenneth Branagh with some vocal coaching! Ben’s speech was inspirational and provided our pupils with much to think about in terms of following their dreams.

Y9 pupils were provided awards which included specific nominations from subjects areas for their outstanding achievements and contributions, alongside other special awards for particular individuals. This year this included a brand new trophy provided by our Head of Music and funded by our recent Music Showcase evening: The “Music Award in Memory of River Reeves” was presented for the first time to Toby Prest, an extremely talented drummer from Y9. Toby performed his own interpretation of the Viola Beach song “Boys That Sing” before being presented with the beautiful award by River’s dad, Ben Dunne.

The evening had one more special moment in store with another brand new presentation: The Frank Prosser Memorial Award was created this year, under the supervision of Science Teacher Liz Shaw, in the form of a photography competition with the theme of “Peace”. Many pupils took part in this and the final decision was very difficult but ultimately the award, including a framed copy of her winning photograph, was presented to Olivia Kavanagh from Y8. Click here to see all of the winning photographs.

Many thanks to all involved, including our student ambassadors who entertained us with their own short videos guiding us through what Bridgewater has to offer in all subjects.