Last Day

Leavers assembly, apparently a new format, well if it was designed to make the audience of family cry it did a good job.

Year six lined up facing the whole school, then their Buddies were invited to join them for the very first time, bonds that for most would soon be broken.

They sang ‘A Million Dreams’ from the Greatest Showman. Tears soon streamed down my face, my daughter next to me wasn’t much better, it was far more than just a song.

Seven years in primary school, so many memories, year six put special things in box to be opened again in ten years time. I couldn’t help but wonder what they’d all be like then.

Ten certificates for those ‘most likely to be’ in the future. The class had voted and chosen the categories. ‘The most likely to be an Archeologist’ had no competition, my grandson awarded ‘Most likely to be a footballer. He’s the sporty type.

Everyone in the class played a part in the assembly, their teacher at the end visibly overcome. He has watched them grow, teaching them in years five and six, has been a fabulous role model especially to the boys and together they have produced the best SAT’s results the school has ever had.

Finally, the most important tradition in school is anticipated for weeks, it’s the Year Six farewell walk. It represents the journey from primary to secondary school.

A path way is marked in the playground in chalk. The whole school line it starting with reception to year five. Then the last duty of year six is to walk through them to rapturous applause and excitement from the crowd all trying to get a ‘high five’ from their favourites.

My grandson lead enthusiastically, apparently just by coincidence, the girls at the end however struggled to hold back their tears.

It said it all, the potent mixture of excitement and sadness, I felt a huge lump in my throat knowing that in a way their innocence and childhood is being left behind and independence and responsibility is just around the corner, but growing up happens to us all.

Of course I’ve seen and felt it all before, my own school life, as a classroom assistant, school nurse, a mum and now Grandma.

That “last day of term” feeling is a total rollercoaster. It is a potent mix of pure euphoria, sudden bittersweet emptiness, exhaustion, and slight overwhelm. Whether you are a student, a parent, or a teacher, that final bell brings a massive, sudden shift in routine that takes a while to process even more so when you’re moving on.