Speech Day 2022

On Saturday 9 July 2022, we were thrilled to be able to mark the end of another incredible year at Pipers Corner in true celebratory fashion. We were delighted to welcome Former RAF Fast-Jet Pilot, Mandy Hickson, as our guest of honour at Speech Day.

As well as presenting a variety of awards and prizes, Mandy gave an inspirational address to the audience.

Mandy spoke of her dreams of becoming a pilot and the barriers she had to break down in order to get there; becoming one of the first female Fast-Jet pilots in the RAF. Mandy explained how before the 1990s women were not yet even allowed to become pilots within the Air Force and with help from her boss at her University squadron, discovered an unconscious bias in the pilot aptitude test which saw 70% of women failing unfairly. Mandy reflected on her time within the Royal Air Force and experience of being one of the first women to reach the achieve the role of a Fast-Jet pilot as well as going on to become a volunteer teacher once leaving the RAF, inspiring the future generation of female pilots. Mandy demonstrated the huge amount of commitment, determination and resilience she showed throughout her career; refusing to let anything stop her and breaking down a number of long-standing barriers impacting women in the RAF.

Mandy’s speech was engaging, entertaining and inspirational to all students at Pipers, reaffirming that no student should ever let anything stop them from achieving their goals and as women, they can achieve anything they put their minds to.

Flickr album: Speech Day 2022 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin

In addition to the prize-giving ceremony which included year group prizes, subject prizes and special awards, the audience were treated to four performances from each part of The School throughout the event. The ceremony began with a performance from this year’s Senior School Production of ‘Grease’, Year 2 later took to the stage to perform their inspiring piece ‘The Women Who Changed the World’, Year 6 performed a medley of songs from their end of year production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and this year’s ceremony concluded with an exciting medley from the Middle School’s production of ‘Matilda JR’