Thought For The Day – Thursday 23rd April 2026
Lights
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”. (William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, Act II, Scene VII). Happy 462nd birthday to William Shakespeare.
Last Thursday saw the return of “Showcase”, the student-led variety show for charity.
It was a wonderful evening, with over £1000 being raised for the “Marie Curie” charity and for “Bishop’s Stortford Rotary Club”.
This “Showcase” was a true community collaboration, as the three Interact clubs of Bishop’s Stortford, supported by Rotary, at The Hertfordshire & Essex High School, Hockerill Anglo-European College, and The Bishop’s Stortford High School, worked together on a collegiate, holistic, and wholesome production.
This special evening was attended by: the Mayor of Bishop’s Stortford; Bishop’s Stortford Rotary Club; a representative from the charity “Marie Curie”, pictured above; carers and parents; and current, and former, students and staff from the three schools.
We are very grateful to our partner schools for their wonderful acts.
This event could not have taken place without these students in our Interact partner schools, and their fabulous Interact staff of Mrs. Edwards and Miss. Dickson.
Thank you, as always, to the Music Department of T.B.S.H.S..
As the host venue, T.B.S.H.S. had certain responsibilities; setting an appropriate and common date; leading tickets sales; marketing; sourcing an excellent raffle; producing a brilliant introduction video; sourcing acts; expertly and flexibly managing significant technical requirements across the three schools; and selling refreshments.
In this above endeavour, once again, Joshua Tingley, Fin Macfie, Isaac Jones, and Oliver Berry excelled and were outstanding, giving a significant amount of time in their Easter holidays to ensure “Showcase” returned to T.B.S.H.S.. Student leadership of commitment, aspiration, respect, integrity, and community.
On the evening itself, there were characteristically superb contributions from Fiore Akinde (supervising tickets), and Matthew Furrer (co-presenter).
We were also equally very grateful to the new generation of Interacters, pictured above: Alex Campbell; Benjamin Nosworthy; Farham Asadi; James Hutley; Ollie Ayres; Oscar Collins; and Stan Wadsworth. These Year 7, Year 8, and Year 9 students were fabulous in supervising tickets and selling refreshments
Acts from T.B.S.H.S. were magical too. They put their hands up to perform and volunteer and perfectly typified “The Black and Gold Spirit”. Thank you to: Harry Newman; Talin Lu (a national finalist in the “Rotary Young Musician of the Year Competition 2026”); Kayleigh Peacock and Saskia Hawkes; Mimi Broughton and Maani Sahand; “The Black and Gold Band” of: Oscar Kadir; Ezra Darley; Louis Wright; Tailin Liu; Fin Turner; Caitlin Hegarty; Milo Ford and Harry Newman; and former student Tom Ryder.
All students who contributed were inspirational.
Of course, as always, the real stars of the show were the audience, for without the audience, there is no show.
It was wonderful to welcome other former students of T.B.S,H.S., and Interact legends, such as Broady Knight, Eddie Sneddon, Sam Ranford, and Jonathan Whitmore.
The first picture below is of the following former T.B.S.H.S. students, from left to right: Dan Palmer (currently pursuing his dream of sports journalism with the excellent A.F.C. Bournemouth); Archie Summerfield (who worked on the technical requirements of every school production until his examinations throughout his time at T.B.S.H.S., and works now in land management); Rudy Knight (wonderfully, now a fireperson in London); and Oliver Jones (who expertly specialises in computing). These former students are looking at their Interact Honours Board.
The second picture below is of the rainbow which greeted the cast and crew after their practice the evening before “Showcase”. It was, indeed, a sign.
