Friday was a day of high emotion at St Mary’s, as some of the students graduated at the end of the week and prepared to say goodbye. However, a party and a delightful dinner meant that the week was rounded off in style!

The students who will be departing on the weekend had time to prepare themselves on Friday, after their final day of lessons and projects. The work they have done this week has been outstanding and the ORA teachers were all very impressed with the high standard. There was work covering the topics of; space, the environment and even Wednesday’s trip to Legoland!

In the afternoon it was graduation time, and a chance to celebrate their hard work. There were two fantastic ceremonies, honouring students from the various courses, and everyone applauded and cheered their peers as they took it in turns to go up and collect their awards.

The students then had a delicious sit down dinner, complete with a huge pile of profiteroles for pudding! The meal was followed by a great party, letting everyone unwind and spend time with the friends they have made over the course of the week. There was some brilliant dancing too, especially to ‘Gangnam Style’.

The weekend may bring a few tears, as students leave Ascot and their new friends behind, but it’s memories like those made on Friday that they will look back on. A fantastic time with fantastic people. The ORA staff have really enjoyed seeing the students socialising and studying – it has been a wonderful week.