Rugby High School

I went to the school between 2003 and 2010. Many of the memories one has of Rugby High School are framed by the annual traditions that took place there (and hopefully still do). Some of these traditions harked back to the history of the school, and although these were generally reviled when you first arrived, by the time you left years later, you were miserable that you would never take part in them again.

The school anthem

The best example of this is the school anthem, originally titled ‘Unto Thee O Lord Do We Give Thanks’. Every year, normally in the autumn term, there would be a school anthem assembly, where we were given a refresh (or a crash course) in singing the anthem to the required degree of harmony.

(Every year we were required to sing it for Foundation Day, a celebration of the school, in front of parents and public, so it couldn’t be too raucous.) For every year I was there, this anthem assembly was given by one of the senior members of staff, who had a penchant for amateur dramatics, and used to generally order us to “use more stomach, girls!”, especially during the line ‘I will go forth/Go forth with the strength of the Lord God’. Every year you got a bit fonder of it. Having left six years ago, it is now the subject of positive adoration.

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