On Thursday July 2, Junior School Prize Giving provided the platform for the first public unveiling of the Scuffle & Twitch Happy-o-Meter.

Following the welcome and opening remarks by Judge Michael C Morris LLB and Vice-Chairman of the Governing Body, Mark Penney, Head of the Junior School, outlined the context and rationale for introducing initiatives designed to bolster the emotional immunity of Junior School pupils.

Twenty four pupils from J1 to J4 were widely lauded for a wonderfully endearing and entertaining presentation of Scuffle & Twitch’s Guide to Authentic Happiness, expanding on each of the 10 Happy Acorn Goals as they went through the medium of stories, images and video. As each Happy Acorn was added to the Happy-o-Meter scale, the audience were helped to understand what the children had been learning and thinking about throughout the school year. They were also treated, post drum roll, to a Scuffle & Twitch illustration which showed them how the Junior School mascots like to celebrate each time they achieve one of their Happy Goals.

The evening was interspersed with a very high calibre of musical recitals from Mariella Scott (violin), Annabel Bagshaw & Hannah Greenwood (choral) and Music Scholar, Oliver Palmer (piano), with a String Quartet and a Wind Ensemble playing at both ends of the proceedings.

During the last of the 10 Happy Goals – You bounce back – Head Boy, Louie Bould and Head Girl, Grace Morgan, presented the proceeds of the money the children had raised through sponsorship (a remarkable £5434.30) for their JS Charity Decathlon to Dean Williams of Help for Heroes, who explained how beneficial the children’s fundraising would be to those in need of support.

This was soon followed by a presentation by the Principal Guest of Honour for the evening - Luke Darlington. Luke, an ex-Royal Marine, suffered severe injuries and brain damage whilst on patrol in Afghanistan in 2011 before embarking on a remarkable personal journey of resilience and recovery that lead to him representing Team GB in the Invictus Games in the summer of 2014.

Luke’s story, and that of Paul Vice, who was also a guest on the evening & injured in the same explosion, was truly inspirational and captured the very essence of how powerful bouncing back can be.

The Headmaster, David EJJ Lloyd, rounded off the evening with his own reflections on a very successful and happy year in the Junior School before inviting everyone present in the Bushell Hall to adjourn to the George Hill Building for refreshments afterwards.

... but not before the pupils excitedly debuted a parody of Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ video that they had been recording in secret – much to their delight and that of the parents who saw their children, and their teachers, move like they had never seen before!