School’s Out for Summer: End of 2011/12 Term – 20 July 2012
by
Andrew Burdett
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Friday, 20 July 2012
Last year I wrote a post on the last day of the school summer term, with photos from that final day alongside the best pictures taken throughout the year. The thing is that this year, although today is the last day of term, I’ve already finished. Our official last day was in late-May, although many of us still had exams well into June. But since then, we’ve been ‘free’ to enjoy a great long summer (not that the weather’s been particularly summery), and we’re not the only ones missing the closing assembly of the year: Year 10 finish their work experience placements this afternoon, while Year 13 have left school forever.
Nevertheless, I thought I’d compile a gallery of a selection of photos from September to June.
September 2011
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This seemingly pointless personality test in a PSHE lesson concluded that I was in fact a banana.
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SEEING DOUBLE: We welcomed Nathan Reive to Furze Platt in September, and he bore an uncanny resemblance to Jack Clifton.
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PIXEL LOVING: Zac used the end of a Maths lesson to create a heart design on squared paper.
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WHAT A PAIR: My friends Sophie and Pippa, with a photo of their younger selves.
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DOUBLE-BREASTED: Isa Nazir (aka MC Cigar) with the result of his request for a double-breasted school blazer.
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MY ACTION PLAN: Helping me plan for the future, this was my action plan drawn up at the start of the term. Except, we’d done the same activity every year in PSHE lessons.
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TWEEDLE-DEE: Unfortunately, my great, great friend Madi had no ‘other half’: her partner for the Grand Procession down West Drive, in which they were to appear as the Tweedle-twins from Alice in Wonderland, had wandered off.
October 2011
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STATING THE OBVIOUS: I questioned whether anyone would actually need this handy note on the front-page of an exam paper.
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SUITED AND BOOTED: My friend and Year 12 student Jay Brickell wearing a pink tie, purple shirt, and on his lapel a WWF badge.
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IN A DASH FOR A TASH: Sam Ralphs devised this ingenious instant moustache.
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SIDE BY SIDE: My friend Beinn’s artwork compared to my own efforts.
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ME? I DID THIS?: I couldn’t believe what I’d allegedly done to my friend Chris, after apparently ‘studding’ him during a rugby match.
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DIGITAL PAPER: Wayne Dixon, a Christian charity worker, came in to school to perform his ‘Zach Rap’ in assembly, with my friend Vanessa providing backing dancing. I offered to film it and put it on YouTube.
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PARENTS’ EVENING: I did everything I could to try and get a gleaming report on Parents’ Evening – including writing this note on Mrs Heales’s schedule.
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WHAT ANY FRIEND WOULD DO: When an increased numbers of seagulls started defaecating in the playground, Gareth kindly offered to help remove poo from Raph’s hair.
November 2011
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TERRIBLE STENCH: Chloe and Kirstie cover their mouths after gas taps were left on in a science lab.
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WELL HELLO: Israr with a leafy moustache. For some reason.
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NOTHING BUT THE BEST: It transpired that the walls of the new Drama block (opened in November) were made of cardboard.
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ALMIGHTY BOTTLE: I bought a 3-litre bottle of Diet Coke to get me through a whole day of Maths, ahead of our November early sitting of the GCSE Maths paper.
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GINGERNUT: Pippa contemplating a gingernut.
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MUSIC MAKERS: Our GCSE Music class staged a little concert, in which we each performed a solo.
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EH?: Beinn, during a non-school uniform day, didn’t know the answer to a ‘Show-Me-On-Your-Boards’ question, so wrote a series of mutually opposed statements.
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EXTENDING THE GRAPHIC: Islamic friend Isa Nazir extended the graphic of a fellow Muslim.
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STAMP IT OUT: Elliot’s shoes finally gave up the ghost in November.
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GET STUCK IN: Robyn, who’s leaving the country this year, helped me paint the set for our GCSE Drama performance.
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CAN YOU TELL WHAT IT IS YET: Me, painting the stage blocks for our GCSE Drama production.
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DA-DAHHH: Matilda was covered in bulldog-clips by friend Anna.
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HE’S GOT THE POWER: Backstage at the opening of the new Drama block, Jay saw double.
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WELCOMING SPEECH: We were delighted to welcome Maidenhead MP and Home Secretary Theresa May to open the new Drama block.
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FLAT AS A PANCAKE: Think it’s bricks that adorn the exterior of the new Drama block? Think again.
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PINOCCHIO: Beinn with a conical tube on his nose, during another productive Chemistry lesson.
December 2011
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ON THE FLOOR: A teacher found a comment made during a lesson so funny she creased up and fell to the floor laughing.
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DIRECTOR OF PROCEEDINGS: Me, conducting the Boys’ Choir, at the school’s Christmas Concert.
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THE MIDDLE PLACE: Robyn, Becky, and Lauren, in our GCSE Drama production of ‘The Middle Place’.
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CATCHING A LIFT: Year 13 Ben Spurgeon gave me a lift from his end of the road to mine, after I got to the end of the school field whilst walking home.
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CARDBOARD SOLDIER: In a Physics lesson, cardboard boxes were arranged about my person to create this look.
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EARLY EVENING SKIES: After rehearsing for our GCSE Drama piece long after school, the skies that greeted us as we left the studios were calming.
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IN COSTUME: Matt Furlonger ready for his role in a GCSE Drama play set in wartime Britain.
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PRE-SHOW MEAL: Just before our GCSE Drama performances, our one class consumed all of this pizza.
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SLICED AND DICED: We dissected organs in our Biology lesson.
January 2012
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OPEN WIDE: My friends Lorna and Sophie prepare to operate, during rehearsals for the upper-school musical of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, in which I played Orin the sadist dentist.
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FOUR EYES: Israr with printed eyes stuck to the lenses of a pair of spectacles.
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THAT’S NOT UNUSUAL: Charlie showing off a kind of squat position in the playground.
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DOES MY BODY LOOK SMALL IN THIS: Vanessa was swamped by my winter coat.
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HYPOCRITE: I was amused by the fact that the only vehicle parked on the grass outside school – as this traffic warden was sent to prevent vehicles parking on – was in fact the traffic warden’s van.
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BEND OVER SIRE: Joe’s back provided the ideal table in this huddle of friends.
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SMILEY FACE?: I’m not sure whether I necessarily agreed with the actions of my peers, who arranged bits of animal organ into a smiley-face shape after a Biology dissection lesson.
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A BIT TIGHT: Unlike my coat, which was far too large for Vanessa, Daniel’s coat was far too small for me.
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DON’T TELL HIM, BUT…: Joe’s girlfriend apparently secretly dyed his hair to bear her initial. The relationship ended soon after.
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THERE’S ONLY ONE PROBLEM: Though Israr was proud of his efforts, no one had the heart to tell him he’d accidentally put ‘1224’ rather than ‘1554’ (ISSY).
February 2012
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GOOD EVENING: Setting off from school, with the sun set in the sky.
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CHAMPION NIBBLE: The band of singing girls in school’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ production enjoy some tuck.
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SNOW WAY TO TREAT HIM: Between rehearsals for the school’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ production, we enjoyed playing in the snow.
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TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL: A snowball fight took place on the field during the Sunday rehearsal for the school’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ production.
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WELCOME TO BERLIN: A bunch of us by the Brandenburg Gate during the Berlin trip in February.
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TEDDY BOY: Daniel Marlow was bought a present during the Berlin trip in February.
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EIN BERLINER: Sam Ralphs enjoys a hot dog during the Berlin trip in February.
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DEAR FRIEND: Me and Lorna in a Berlin coffee shop.
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GETTING INTO CHARACTER: Ryan Tomlinson puts on a moustache to play a star role in school’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ production.
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MASTER OF DISASTER: After a long night, through no fault of my own, a chair/stool broke. I couldn’t help but laugh.
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REVISION PLANNER: Myles had been rather relaxed about preparing to revise.
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SPOT SOPHIE: There’s no prize for finding my friend Sophie Davies in this photograph.
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BUT SERIOUSLY: I thought it was a pretty fair question to ask.
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POLITICAL AFFILIATION: With the London Mayoral Election campaign kicking off in London, Daniel was holding Boris close to his heart.
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PLAYING IN MINIATURE: Zac and I made this miniature piano, which I completed with musical notation etc.
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AMAZING ORAGAMI: Kirstie made an amzing shirt out of graph-paper.
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LOOKIN’ GOOD: You’d think it’d only be the ladies desperate to look their best for the whole-year photograph, but you’d be mistaken.
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SEDUCTIVE: Raph enjoying his lunch in a seemingly seductive manner.
March 2012
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DEAR MISS: Beinn was rightly concerned about how he’d do in his end-of-term assessment.
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LADS’ FOOTBALL: After school on some March evenings a bunch of us played footie on the field.
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ABNORMAL CHOICE: When told he had to speak about a subject close to his heart, Alex Jones decided to do his presentation on knitting.
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FURTHER READING: Although the image quality is poor, Sam Mansfield was caught reading up on Wikipedia’s ‘Red Hair’ article.
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BLOWN AWAY: On a March Sunday, Jay and I appeared, with a handful of other Furze Platt singers, in the performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.
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GETTING UNDERWAY: A photo taken from the choir-stalls of the audience seated for the performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.
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GUNK: Mr Shire gunging Mr Boniface, in a sponsored ‘Gunge A Teacher’ event.
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OH NO!: Raph was gutted to find he had a puncture just before making his way home.
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ANIMAL CRUELTY: Zac falling victim to Lorna’s axe.
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FREAK OF NATURE: Jack, who I performed alongside in our second GCSE Drama play, pulling a face.
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NEW HAIR: Luis unveiled his new haircut in March, so I sketched it.
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HOW DID THAT GET THERE?: I for one was surprised by the presence of a girl’s shoe in the school male loos.
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PUSHING THE LIMITS: Simon Gurney mistook ‘Mufti’ Day for ‘Fancy Dress’, coming in as a pig.
April 2012
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BOTTLE BANK: Zac and Geoff made music from Chemistry test tubes.
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LEVITATION ACT: Raph somehow manages to hover most of his body millimetres above the ground.
May 2012
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COUPLE OF CLOWNS: In final preparations for our GCSE Drama scripted pieces, Mo (from another play) and me stand arm-in-arm.
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REVISION TECHNIQUE: Em produced amazing notes, including this one based on High School Musical.
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FARM BOY: Rory, who I nicknamed ‘Furze Platt’s Minister for Rural Affairs’, wearing his John Deere belt.
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BIZARRE: Jack Clifton looking as if he’s drying his crotch.
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GROSSE NASE: Oli Palmer labelled during a German lesson in which we learnt vocabulary for body-parts.
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POST-IT: One of our final GCSE German lessons saw us sticking notes to each other’s persons, helping us learn German terms for body-parts. Supposedly.
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SHINY QUIFF: Hamza Hussain with hair that looks straight out of ‘Grease’.
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PAST PAPER: During a science past paper, I provided a handy solution to a third-party copyright issue.
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RAID THE BANK: Classmates sat outside during our last official days in school.
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CRISS-CROSS: Although we’d gone outside to revise an hour ahead of our Further Maths exams, in the end we all decided we could do no more.
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CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: Greg took this photo of me during one of our last days in school as a yeargroup.
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HIT IT: Me, having taught myself to drum fifteen minutes earlier, rocking out to Miss Watson on the kit.
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HEAD-SHOT: A well-spirited Mr Foster-Smith took a direct hit from Ali’s bottle during the brighter, warmer days of our leaving school.
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HE-HEY: The girls lay on the floor, much to the delight of both Louis and Jack.
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BUDDIES: Me and O-Dawwg (Oliver Palmer), who joined Furze Platt in Year 9.
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ALL-TIME HIGH: Ali celebrated a goal in a game of end-of-term football on the field. Topless.
June 2012
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NOT EXACTLY PRACTICAL: Sam discovered the giant pencil wouldn’t be brilliant in an exam situation.
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CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION: Aaron celebrated the end of exams by doing a little dance in the gym changing rooms (where we leave our bags just before – and collect them just after – exams).
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HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF THIS?!: Me with Jason and his giant pencil.
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JUST THE THREE OF US: Two of my best friends, Zac and Lorna, at the school’s Graduation Ball in Court Garden, Marlow.
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BY HER SIDE: Lorna was my ‘prom date’, and looked amazing in a scarlet dress, for the school’s Graduation Ball in Court Garden, Marlow.
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ALL ABOARD THE BUS: Lorna and I getting on board the bus that took us to the school’s Graduation Ball in Court Garden, Marlow.
Tags: academic yearAndrew burdettendend of termfpssfurze platt senior schoolimagerylast daylorna youngphoto galleryPhotosschoolschool yearsummer termtietiesvanessa brownZac Brooke
Andrew Burdett
Andrew Burdett is a twenty-something from Maidenhead in Berkshire, working for ITV News.