We began at the beginning of last academic year with a talk on Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, by a representative from the Freud Museum. This focused on Freud’s belief that our dreams are a product of our subconscious mind.
We then had an assembly on the composer Sir Edward Elgar, led by myself.
Pupils were given an overview of Elgar’s life and works and were treated to live performances of his lighter repertoire for violin and piano.
This was followed by an assembly on the poet John Keats, given by English teacher Claudia.
Pupils learnt about Keat’s struggle to achieve fame and his tragically early death and were treated to readings of some of his poems.
We plan to continue with the theme of famous local residents by holding an assembly on Jim Henson and the Muppets.
Jim Henson demonstrated how a simple idea – a sock and a couple of ping-pong balls – could turn into a multi-million dollar franchise by dint of talent, imagination and sheer hard work.
People of a certain age will have fond memories of how learning could be made fun during episodes of Sesame Street.
Henson’s sojourn in Hampstead, to which he moved in the 1970s, was necessitated by the refusal of American networks to countenance his idea of a Muppet Show. The British impresario Sir Lew Grade, by contrast, saw great merit in the idea, and the series was accordingly filmed in Hertfordshire.
Today, it is easy to forget that if an idea were not taken up by those in control of mainstream media it would not see the light of day.
Henson moved on to create Fraggle Rock, the British version of the series featuring the legendary Fulton Mackay of Porridge fame as the lighthouse keeper.
Henson died relatively young. His Christian Science background most likely imbued him with a suspicion of conventional medicine.
If so, this may have caused him to seek medical attention for an infection too late.
The doctors who treated him stated that had he presented himself even a few hours earlier he might have lived.
Whatever the case, he achieved immortality through his Muppet characters, which continue to generate affection among people of all ages.
