Centenary Blog 7

The year ended as it had begun with a church service. However, unlike in January when we had celebrated the beginning of our Centenary Year by inviting the school into the College Chapel in three groups over the course of the morning, the December gathering took place with all pupils and teaching staff together in a single service held in Southwark Cathedral. Our January services had focussed on the origins of the school and what the founding fathers had laid down as the school’s purpose. Our December Service enabled us to celebrate the birth of the Christ-Child over two thousand years ago, and how this had changed our lives in the Christian world.  I was forced to ask: was this the first time in the last one hundred years that the Senior and Junior Schools had gathered as one to recognise our common identity with a shared sense of purpose?

Once the travelling logistics had been sorted out – it would not have been possible to organise a chartered train to London Bridge for the return journey, and so coach travel was chosen as the preferred option, with 16 (!) coaches required – and the caterers had agreed to serve lunch from 11am, the event was always likely to be unforgettable. Just over 800 pupils and 100 teachers filled the nave with no room for anyone else in the afternoon, and so an evening service was arranged for the rest of the Eltham Community, OEs, parents and friends, and support staff. The Chaplain and Director of Music masterminded the Services with carols, hymns and readings; the afternoon service used pupils and teaching staff for the readings, while an OE, a Governor and a parent were included in the evening. The charm and innocence of the two Year 3 and Year 4 boys who read the first lesson from Isaiah set the tone for the rest of the service.

The music was splendid as it has been throughout the whole year: Mr Alastair Tighe had selected some excellent carols, including one specially commissioned from Tarik O’Regan for this event. They were all performed by the choirs with the quality we come to expect, and the acoustic of the cathedral, more sympathetic than the College Chapel, enhanced the whole experience. Perhaps the Junior School Choir won the hearts of all present by their performance of “Tell out the News!”. When the congregations were invited to join in with the hymns, the addition of the brass and percussions to the organ left us all overwhelmed by the majesty of “Hark the Herald Angels” and “O Come all ye Faithful”.

The response by the pupils, who all represented the school impeccably throughout the long day, and by those who attended the evening Service, has been incredibly positive. While I doubt that we shall use Southwark again for our annual Carol Service in the near future – but perhaps in another 100 years’ time – everyone who was part of this year’s event will remember the beauty of the setting, the purity of the singing and that sense of community which remains at the heart of Eltham College, certainly for the past one hundred years.

So the Centenary Year draws to a close: one thousand copies of Our Century have enriched the lives of member of the Eltham Community, great success has been achieved by pupils and celebrated in music, art and sport. Lord Puttnam reminded us of “Liddellism” and Eric’s daughter helped us focus on doing the right thing; the Olympics came back to London and we were able to be part of this amazing event in many different ways. The PTA have worked tremendously hard to organise social events that are centred on the school’s history, while our link with Kisasa School in Tanzania will grow through future Old Elthamians. The strength of any good team depends so much on the team players, and this year has shown us all how important the team ethic can be and how we should celebrate this. And so on to the next century……..  

PJ Henderson