Some readers may recall the catchy old folk song entitled Where Have All the Flowers Gone? written and sung by Pete Seeger in 1955, which became, and remains, very much a popular anti-war anthem, highlighting the endless cycle of young people’s lives being wasted and destroyed.
The flowers are picked by young girls who give them to young men who go to war who then end up in graveyards where more flowers are placed. The haunting message is: “Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing. Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago.”
Where indeed? They have gone; what was there is no more. And at the end of each verse comes the striking refrain “Oh, when will you ever learn? Oh, when will you ever learn?”
We have considered, in previous articles, different ways that we can assess the worth, significance and value of a school (by looking at its speech day as a whole and by considering who is the guest of honour at such speech days).
However, there is perhaps an even greater way of considering how successful a school is and that is by asking a similar question to the song title quoted above: where have all the pupils gone? What are all our former pupils doing twenty, thirty years from when they left school? Is the school still proud of them? Are they still upholding the values of the school?
One way we might consider that is by taking all the trophies awarded each year at the speech day and ask important questions.
Are the winners of the Sportsmen and Sportswomen of the Year still playing competitive sport at a high level? Are they still even playing any sport, these people who excelled in several different sports? Are all captains now coaching teams? Where have all the players gone? Are all pupils still playing some sport twenty, thirty years later, when the school has proclaimed that education is for life, sport is integral to education, therefore sport is for life?
Do our pupils still live by the values that the school pronounced all through their school career, once they have left school, and still do so twenty, thirty years on? Is the pupil with the award for the School Spirit trophy (or even the war cry leader, if it is not the same person) still proudly and loudly promoting the school at every opportunity (and for all the right reasons)? Indeed, are they still proudly and loudly promoting all good things in their community or was it just a bit of fun at school to get them through the endless events at which the pupils had to attend?
- Where have all the pupils gone?
Keep Reading
Is the pupil who won the Service Award still volunteering and visiting orphanages, old people’s homes or the like? Indeed, is the chair of the school interact club a member of rotary club twenty, thirty years later?
Shall we go on? Are all the members of the school orchestra still playing musical instruments? Are those pupils who won the music prizes still excelling in the musical field? Are all the choir members still singing in choirs or music groups? Is the pupil who was announced the top choir performer still singing? Are those who were prefects in leadership positions now where they work, twenty, thirty years on? Are our head boys and head girls leaders in their fields and communities?
Well might we see a parallel in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians [15:19] where he wrote that “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (emphasising the importance and relevance of the resurrection of the dead). We might take such a statement and apply it to our school context and say that if our efforts with children are for this school life only, (where we boast of their achievements so proudly and loudly), then we are most to be pitied. The education we offer must reach far beyond a child’s years at the school. The effect must be eternal. Long time passing, in fact.
Instead of our young men going to war, long time passing, our current pupils have gone to marriage, to business, to competition. And instead of the message being anti-war, it equally is a message of anti-waste of pupils’ lives during and after their school days. A common scene in every school is a senior teacher reminding pupils who are boarding a bus to go to a fixture or other event outside school: “Pupils, remember you are ambassadors of the school”. Yes, but former pupils, they are even more ambassadors of the school — they show if it really works. The true test of a school is what all their pupils are doing all those years later. When will we ever learn? Good question!
