The 2 July saw the formal opening of the cinema, celebrated by the premiere of the film made by our cinema group: Projecting the Past. I know it is the default mode of headteachers to praise their pupils’ efforts unequivocally, but in this case, any praise I can offer would be less than deserved. This little gem of a film, encapsulated the history of cinema in Sawston through the eyes of older residents who regularly attended the original cinema. And what stories they had to tell.

 

Our pupils did it all: interviewing the residents, film-making, editing, projecting, organising front of house and box office. Tom Curran, former pupil of SVC and last year’s BBC Young Composer of the Year, composed the original score to accompany the film.

 

In short, it was a stunning accomplishment.

 

I am immensely grateful to Lesley Morgan, our Arts Development Manager, whose energy, commitment and passion for the Arts and offering young people the opportunity to shine, has driven the project and enabled it to happen by raising over £100,000 to equip the cinema and bring in the experts to train our young people to do the outstanding job that they did.

 

I was overwhelmingly proud of all of them for their amazing achievement. Thank you.