Principal’s Account of the May Festival

By David Gray

On Saturday, 4 June, the Trustees of the Quaker International Educational Trust spent most of their day at the May Festival by which they were enormously impressed, not only by the range and variety of activities going on, but by the enthusiasm of the children, by the commitment of the staff to students, by the sense of excitement which the event generated and by the general atmosphere of relief and joy which the May Festival generated. It was extremely well attended right up until the end when the finale consisted of awards of certificates to those who had achieved at the AUB academic fair, at our own academic fair as well as on Field Day, the outcome of which was announced in front of about 500 parents. Rizkallah were this year’s winners of the Field Day cup. In addition, we heard a choir of about a 100 of our children from various sections of the school, conducted and prepared by Camille Khalil, to whom I am indebted, and finally we saw the Dabke expertly performed.

I would like to thank all staff who were involved in the May Festival, whether training children and helping host or in supporting the events in other ways. The weather was perfect and it was a great day out for many families. I was very impressed by the football match with live commentary, by the basketball with an equally professional commentary, by the Art Exhibition next to the Meeting House and by the huge range of activities going on. I would also like to give a special mention to Abdo Trad and his catering team who provided some great fast food in competition with other suppliers. Finally, the Parents’ Association must be given great thanks; they worked incredibly hard in what was their first experience of the May Festival, and indeed the school’s first experience since 2019, and they did incredibly well. I shall be interested to see how much money was raised once it has all been collected and counted.  Our children did the school proud, whether they were scouts, choir members, volunteer helpers in their smart coloured vests, or were representing the school at sport. The students beat the parents both at Basketball and at Football in exciting matches.