Messing around in boats

I'm not sure of the conversation here. Maybe Emily is wondering what the oar is for, or where it should go, or why hers is so much bigger than Aidan's. But it proves the point that "There is nothing ... absolutely nothing ... half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats". Of course it leaves the question who is rat and who is mole?

Grade 3 success

Much to her surprise Emily has passed her Grade 3 Keyboard exam which she took on Tuesday. After a last minute panic about her pieces last weekend, clearly having not put in enough time to learn them as well as she could have, the focused practice paid off. In a play-through immediately prior to the exam she did fine, but an attack of nerves clearly got the better of her in the exam itself as she claimed to have "messed them all up". Convinced she'd failed, the shock on her face when she got the news she'd passed was worth a photo - alas the camera was not ready.

Gold at Newcastle Open

Yet again gold (coloured) metalwork has arrived home with Emily from the Newcastle Open Teamgym competition today. Goole Senior mixed team got 21.something, beating their mark at the National finals which took place back in May, so confidence is building that this year could be their year to take something other than silver next May. Well, they deserve to, having been pipped to the post too often in recent years.

Acting Debut

Aidan found himself with another developing skill when he made his acting debut at school this week. In a two-night production of the moving story about Anne Frank, Aidan took the part of the older Peter van Daan (due to the number of students wanting to take part many characters where split across several actors).

The true story, based on the book "Anne Frank's Diary", is about two families in hiding from the Germans during the 2nd World war, the Franks who were German Jews that had emigrated to Holland in 1933 and the van Daans. During the time of their hiding in the top storey of a factory, Anne and Peter struck-up a friendship.

The part Aidan took was for the period prior to their discovery by the Germans, a part of which he had to re-enact at both the Art Week's finale and at the school Prize Giving afternoon in front of the whole school, guests and many parents, and he didn't forget a word or fluff a line!