Dean Close Prep School Community was very excited to welcome Michael Morpurgo to this year’s Speech Day. Mrs Lawrence and the cast of Private Peaceful were delighted Michael watched scenes from the children’s play they had staged earlier in the year. He then gave the cast a lesson in how to take a bow, explaining that they must bow at least 90⁰ and stay down for the count of one rhinoceros, two rhinoceros, three rhinoceros to maximise levels of applause and if they could squeeze a forth in, that wouldn’t be a bad thing!
Michael entertained children and adults alike with a moving speech about the benefits of challenging ourselves. Sharing personal childhood memories to demonstrate how, when he was most afraid, he took a chance and scored a valuable try as a small 8yro scrum half.
Everyone was enthralled when Michael sang an unaccompanied solo of the song “Barley Corn”, a song taken from the stage performance of War Horse. What an absolute privilege to have Michael with us on Speech Day, a treasured memory for us all to keep for years to come.
