Bangor Grammar's Got Talent

The theme of the week just past has to be 'talent'. It began last Monday in the Assembly Hall with Bangor Grammar's Got Talent, the culmination of more or less a term's worth of preparation and organisation, presenting eight remarkable acts. At the last minute, I was asked to be a judge and I went into the competition not knowing what was awaiting me or what I was expected to do. In the event -literally - it couldn't have been more enjoyable and that was because of the quality and variety of the acts. They had been selected through audition, so I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was. Specially surprising was not so much the quality of the senior acts, any one of whom could have won, as the courage of the junior boys, each one taking the stage by himself, none with the luxury of performing with a group. Their self-possession and ability to work an audience was astounding, their assurance almost uncanny.

Mind you, equally astounding was the talent on display by the staff: Rosemary Shaw and Mark Dickson singing the duet Barcelona, and Claire Steele as Amy Winehouse, singing with a group from her form class, 8CS of course, including one dexterous drum major, whose twirling staff was an act in itself.

As for the judges, what can I say: wise, humane, pithy and impeccable in their judgements. Did I hear someone say that they stole the evening? Alas, no...

At the end of the week, last Friday, the CCF had brought back to life what had at one time been a most civilised feature of the end of term - their Christmas reception and prize presentation. Here there was on display a rather different set of talents, but no less remarkable for all that. Their talents had been honed over many months of CCF training and opportunity, their achievements not so public, but worthy of applause and admiration.

This was the week in which many schools had the melancholy task of announcing how they were going to cope with the massive cuts in their budgets over the next three years. It would be forgivable if their feeling was one of anger, however and at whomever directed. We live in a blame culture and it would be easy to blame the Department of Education or central government or the banks, but I'm not sure whether it is really anyone's fault. I know nothing about economics, but those whose opinions I value and respect tell me that the economy moves at its own sweet will, through troughs and peaks, at the mercy of dark forces beyond the ability of any government to control. That's not a consolation, by the way; it would be easier if we were able to blame someone, a human being, a group, a government, just to prove to ourselves that ultimately we can control these forces. I just don't think that it's the case. What I do know is that recession equals waste: waste of opportunity, above all waste of talent, the talents of teachers, especially young teachers, brim-full of ability and commitment, anxious, desperate to work and unable to find a permanent post, or having found one,now facing the risk of losing it.
So in our talent shows and receptions, let's take the opportunity to praise the talents we have and which, for the moment, are not being squandered.