Celebrating Achievement Event 2011 

When we think of education in Shrewsbury, the picture that may immediately leap into our minds is the imposing frontage of Shrewsbury School - perched upon the hillside on one bank of the Severn. The casual passer-by might be forgiven for assuming that it is the town’s focal point for learning and academic achievement. But they would not be entirely correct. On the opposite side of the river, nestled tightly between buildings in the towns’ ‘West End’ is Shrewsbury Sixth Form College. Whilst not as strikingly situated as the boy’s school it does boast an extraordinary asset - the vast amount of creative flair and applied skill that its student body has to offer, and their extensive rage of unique talents. Something not always immediately apparent if observing the horde of youths that flood out onto Shrewsbury’s streets – but it was far more visible at the college’s annual Celebrating Achievement Evening, at the Theatre Severn in early March.

The evening was held on a fiercely cold night, on the tail end of winter, but this was countered almost immediately upon entry by the warm and friendly manner of the front-of-house staff, consisting largely of student volunteers who were soon joined by the Mayor Cllr Mrs Kath Owen, Peter Bettis, Chair of Shrewsbury Business Chamber, and other luminaries.

College Principal, Martin Ward, took the podium to welcome families and special guests alike, thanking them for their support - after which he handed over to the students. Initially in the energetic form of Andrew Horton, student ‘master of ceremonies’, who continued to direct events with tireless fervour throughout the night. He quickly introduced Indie-rock group Endorphins, who stunned with an energetic and professional performance of several songs of their own composition. From then, it was not long before more and more young faces started to take the microphone. 

Presentations from all different departments and extracurricular groups were equally impressive. To name a few, four girls provided a heart-warming presentation and video diary about the successful completion of their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expedition - managing to survive the elements with their sense of humour intact - and the inspiring story of 2012 Paralympic swimming hopeful Gemma Almond was shown via podcast, detailing her achievements in international swimming. Features of this sort continued later into the evening: the Student Council Environment Group gave a witty and confident delivery of an important message about climate change; and history student Lewis Willcocks took the opportunity to remind the audience of the heroism of local soldier-poet, Wilfred Owen. Interspersing these sections were yet more examples of the college’s musical talent: in the first half alone, a touching guitar/vocal duet and solo piano recital were complemented by a healthy dose of Vivaldi from the musically adept college string ensemble.

But it was not only the interpersonal skills of college students that came to light, nor their determined approach to their pursuits. Business students, those studying ‘Leisure and Tourism’, and the members of the ‘Young Enterprise’ group demonstrated high entrepreneurial acumen when recounting the details of day events that they had orchestrated around town, and small business ventures that they had set up and were continuing to manage as part of their studies. The Lady Mayor praised them as ‘a credit’ to their college and to Shrewsbury itself. Their personally produced items were on sale in the foyer during the interval, where yet more students were having a collection to fund their biological expedition to Madagascar, and an intuitive exhibition of creative artwork was being displayed in the theatre’s Haydn Smith gallery.
 
Almost lost amongst all of this was the process of actually presenting achievement awards to those students to have accomplished the most in their respective areas of study. As the presenter of the Earth Sciences award aptly expressed the proceedings, a veritable ‘storm of superlatives’ were extended to thoroughly sing the praises of each award recipient or nominee. Each tutor or department head to present an award during the evening spoke with enthusiasm and visible pride about the students whose names came up. 

The evening was a shining showcase of talent and achievement and also demonstrated the achievement of college students in its own, more subtle way:  the night’s line-up had been arranged almost entirely by students; the theatre doors were being manned by students; and even the trophies being presented for achievement awards had been manufactured by the college’s product design students. The overriding sense was that the staff, the Principal, and even the Mayor were only present to perform their formal functions. The students were the ones pulling all of the strings.

Tom Lee ~ President of Student Council, English Student and aspiring Journalist

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