This year we were privileged to welcome Mr Terry Waite CBE as our Guest of Honour at Senior School Speech Day.

Mr Waite worked for the Church of England for many years, eventually becoming Special Envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. As part of this role Mr Waite worked in hostage negotiation, resulting in his capture in Beirut in 1987. Mr Waite spent nearly five years in solitary confinement but was eventually released to return to the UK. He has since written four books, including his autobiography, ‘Taken on Trust’ and ‘Solitude’.

In this year's Speech Day we celebrated the music of local composer Edward Elgar and alumnus Ivor Gurney, which has given hope and inspiration to many, including Mr Waite when he was in captivity.

After handing out the prizes - in which he took great interest - Mr Waite delivered an inspiring message to the whole school community about the importance of resilience, faith and optimism for the future.  Whilst in confinement he had to find a way of keeping alive and he did this by keeping his mind alive; recalling books he'd memorised from his school days as well as writing stories and poems in his mind. Mr Waite has since returned to Beirut to meet his captors in an effort to make something constructive from something so negative. To sum up, he reminded his audience that we live in a troubled world and encouraged our pupils to do their best, to work for peace and to reconcile differences - King's pupils have an opportunity to learn, grow and develop and this is a unique gift to be appreciated.