Friday Briefings

George, Benny and Shack

Best of Briefings Hello, and welcome back to another episode of… that’s right, the Friday Briefings! Over the past year, myself, Shack, Benny, and a host of characters have graced the screens of your 2:15 Friday tutor sessions with a three-segment show: a series of congratulations to check up on the school’s activity over the week, an interview with a member of support staff to appreciate the work they do, and a segment of whatever mischief we can come up with in the hopes of entertaining you all. It has taken us from Hammersmith Bridge gate to the science building roof, and it has been fun every step of the way. To commemorate this year’s briefings, we got together and came up with a few favourite memories for each segment – time for a trip down memory lane!

Congratulations

1.Kicking it off with some Fleetwood

Mac, we agreed that the infamous dancing episode by far wins the most embarrassing segment of the year.

Despite our painful lack of moves, we saw some committed guest dance appearances from Fourth

Formers to members of the 1st XI football squad – a testament to the greatness of Stevie Nicks.

2.Our second favourite congratulations came while (and perhaps because)

George had been mysteriously given COVID, to the glee of a newly appointed VC Benny Harrison. The ensuing mime and choral singing from the Shack-Benny partnership in the Colet Hall was as inane as you’d expect.

3.A final favourite moment during our weekly roundup came at the end of the Winter term, where George and

Shack toured the school to find out who was naughty and who was nice before Christmas. We heard from all corners of the school, and even got exclusive access to the D&D society!

Navigate a new system of learning but there should be no fear about making them, and even less about learning from them.

Interviews

1.It would be remiss of us not to bring up one of our earliest interviews, which saw Benny don a beekeeping suit and learn about the inhabitants of the science building roof, with the help of Mr Carter and Andreas. This interview particularly stands out for a massive fail on our behalf – after filming Mr Carter’s 30 minute tour of the beehive, we realised that we forgot to record the audio! After a very kind opportunity to re-interview

Mr Carter, it all worked out okay, but it was still a heart-stopping moment.

2.Present throughout all of our interviews was Benny’s endless penchant for mischief. It’s hard to single out any interview in particular, but Will Shine from catering, Justin from the services team, and Steve from the groundskeepers had a particularly cheeky interviewer to deal with – and all handled the jester admirably!

3.A final behind-the-scenes fail came at the end of the Spring Term, when

Benny asked various members of the school about their favourite moment of term. All was going swimmingly, until Ms McLaughlin pointed out to us the very loud profanities going on in the background of an interview… some rapid editing followed.

Intros, Outros, and Everything Inbetween

1.It may have taken YONKS to edit together, but our version of The

Office seemed to be a fan favourite, with even the Deputy Head Academic commenting on his enjoyment of the show. Perhaps a mockumentary at the school is in order?

2.With the smiling faces of the 1st XV rugby front row stepping in for

Rudolph and his crew, we thoroughly enjoyed putting our English skills to the test for our Pauline rendition of

“Twas the night before Christmas” at the end of the Winter Term.

The coveted Pulitzer Prize for Poetry unfortunately did not appear, but it was good fun nevertheless.

3.And ultimately, our favourite japes had to involve YOU, the average

Pauline. When Shack and Benny disappeared, your enthusiasm for the camera kept the show going with some excellent auditions for the role of host coming through, which no doubt will keep the Friday Briefings strong for years to come. ❚

These 156 minutes or so of Friday briefings could not have happened without the support of staff, and particularly Ms McLaughlin, co-ordinator and content advisor for the year – thank you. A massive thank you also to all those who were generous enough to be interviewed throughout the year, as well as to Miss Ryan, for her regular help in navigating the endless departments of the school system. Finally, a thank you to all viewers, for indulging our madness and for your support. This was a true privilege. From all of us here at the Friday Briefing… see you next time!