YEAR 11 PROM – A BIT MORE OF AN INSIGHT!

As promised, here follows a bit more detail from two of the people very much involved with the organisation of the event and with the Year 11 students back through their time at Richmond School.

The event was organised by a brilliant team of three Richmond School staff members: Mrs Miller, Miss Merkin and Miss Weaver-Cooke. Mrs Miller, chief organiser, takes up the story:

“The theme of the event was ‘Starry Night’. We created the starlit ceiling with 8000 fairy lights and had an amazing starlit dance floor. Magnum Entertainment, from Stockton, came in to drape the hall in white crushed velvet and brought in the PROM lettering which was the main focal point as you came into the hall. The bobo balloons on the tables together with the blue mood lighting were to represent hot air balloons in the night sky. We added a sparkly stage curtain and table decor for effect. The whole idea with the candles, fairy lights and stars was meant to be quite romantic!

Arrivals started at 6:00pm and there were certainly some interesting vehicles including Ferraris, motorbikes, a removal truck and a tractor.

The students looked amazing and had clearly made a huge effort. 

We followed the arrivals with welcome drinks which staff handed out to students on their entrance to the hall. Soft drinks were provided free of charge all evening in our bar area. 

We hired an attended photo booth with a shimmer wall background and a neon “Let’s get the party started” light to give it a party feel. The student loved it! It was quite swanky and had features such as Airdrop and instant printing. The prints all included the date and event so that the students had a keepsake from the event. We also did organza favour bags with chocolate treats. 

The DJ was a former student of Richmond School – he played a great mix of music and made sure the students got up and danced – the students even organised an impromptu dance off at one point!

The food was provided by local caterers Game Cart. Staff took the food around the venue on serving trays so that students could help themselves and be treated to waiter service. The food included fish and chip cones, pizzas, mozzarella dippers, dips and chicken goujons. It went down a storm – they devoured it all and there wasn’t a single morsel left. . 

Mrs Clish, Head of Year 11 and Miss Dunwoodie, Assistant Head Teacher, presented the staff and student awards at 9:00pm. They were as follows: 

Funniest Student – George Kipling  

Runners up – Stanton Sharkey and Kelsie Durkin

Best Hair – Olivia Fenwick Clennell

Runners up – Andrew Ryde and Keira Colley

Best Dressed – Iona Smith

Runners up – Raffy D’Silva and Matilda Whent

Best Sportsperson – Joe White

Runners up – Emma Farrow and Max Percival

Best Friend to All – Bailey Cutler

Runners up – Guy Feakins and Joe White

Most Likely to be a Millionaire – Henry Grant

Runners up – George Kipling and Matthew Partridge

Most Likely to be Prime Minister – Matthew Partridge

Runners up – Maggie Longstaff and Guy Feakins

Most LIkely to be a Reality Star – Keira Colley

Runners up – Ashton Newall and Kieran Austin

Most Likely to be Famous – Keira Colley

Runners  up Riley Read and Iona Smith

Most Likely to Win the Lottery but Lose the Ticket – Riley Kinchin

Runners up – Justin Hepper and Jack Platt

Staff awards

Best Assembly – Mr Haye

Runners up Miss Spittlehouse and Miss Ridley

Kindest – Mrs Myers

Runners up – Miss Foster and Miss Dunwoodie

Cleverest – Mr Dalgliesh

Runners up – Mr Moohan and Mr Speakman

Funniest – Mr Moohan

Runners up – Mr Wilson and Mr Hedley

Most Helpful – Mrs Moss

Runners up – Mrs Myers and Miss Dunwoodie

Teaching Assistant of the Year – Miss Merkin

Runners up – Miss Beeney and Mr Beresford

The students spent the remaining hour making the most of the dancefloor before leaving at 10:00pm.

We have had lots of compliments about the event from both staff and students, with many staff commenting that it was the best and most classy it had ever looked.

It was a massive team effort and took months of careful planning but it was very worthwhile and we are glad we could send the students off in style.”

Miss Dunwoodie said: “’From the glamorous arrivals to the staff and student awards, Prom 2024 was certainly a night to remember for a brilliant cohort of students. 

The fantastic food from the Game Cart went in seconds and the Magic Photo Booth Company provided hours of entertainment.

It is our own staff that help to bring this magical event together which we are very grateful for. A wonderful night was had by all of us and we look forward to welcoming lots of our students back to our Sixth Form in September 2024.”

The links below are the same links to the photo albums that have been shared previously:

Arrivals:

www.tinyurl.com/Y11Prom2024Arrivals

At the event:

www.tinyurl.com/Y11Prom2024AtTheEvent