Out with a bang

The happy arrival of Libby has not been the only change in our lives at the vicarage of late. School term ended for the Dufflepud last Friday, - and that meant the end of an era, as he will be moving in September to a 6th form centre far closer to home than the school where his siblings completed their secondary education.
It felt quite strange to realise that, apart from going in to collect his GCSE results in 3 weeks time, we've ended a connection that has been running for 10 years....that when the History department arranges a trip to Russia, no Fleming children will go along...that we won't have to listen to the Head's Charter Day speech once again (it varied little from year to year)...that none of my offspring will be attending the summer music residential next year.
Last year, as Hugger Steward left school, his final concert was overshadowed by the floods that swept across the country. The planned "Festival in the Field" rapidly became a "Get through this as best we can" and the promised fireworks and RAF Falcon display were clearly a wash out.
The Dufflepud, however, fared rather better, though the evening was more than just chilly for the audience. We sat with some dear friends whom I'd not seen properly for far too long, and thoroughly enjoyed much of the music (the sound system did no favours to the classical performers, contending with the difficulties of an open air performance - but the jazz band was excellent).
"What about the fireworks?" you ask.
They were amazing! A great way to end our relationship with a school that has done my children proud for 10 years...