Hampstead School Celebration Evening

On Thursday 12 July we went to the first ever Hampstead School Celebration Evening, at which the first Max O'Connell Award for Excellence and Improvement in Languages was awarded. The school was very much smarter than in our day, with an imposing new entrance hall, a great improvement. The dress code for the evening was smart, and just about everyone had made an effort, and there was a friendly and expectant atmosphere. There were awards for improvement and excellence in all subjects and activities. Many of the awards were for sport - lots of sports are now played at the school, including cricket and rugby (gosh!).

Introducing the Max O'Connell award, Ms Smith, Head of the Sixth Form, spoke about Max with warmth and humour. Although it is six years since he left she remembered him clearly and her descriptions of him and his way of being in the school caught him well. It was very moving to see the award presented to Finn Marr-Heenan, and he seemed very pleased to have won it, and the first one at that. We spoke to him afterwards and found that he did in fact know something of Max through mutual family friends.

It was also good to learn that the money contributed Max O'Connell Ski Trip Fund was used to help seven students to go on the school's Ski Trip, some of them for the first time.

Victoria