On Monday 15^th December, Year 11’s PSHCE lesson took a twist from its usual hustle and bustle to something more unconventional. Spanish Teacher, Miss Dua had organised for a rather different PSHCE lesson, with an invitation to Philip Day who gave an interesting and insightful rap describing the evolution of mankind, sequencing all the major events in history since the Big Bang.

The rap was covered in three parts with teachers and students applauding Day’s memory skills and creative lyrics. Students learnt much … the rap that covered the Origins of Life on Earth, agriculture, the Ice Age, civilisations, trade, empires, wars, Industrial Revolution, the 20^th Century and Modern Day society. 

Comments made by students after the assembly:

• “That really was something I enjoyed. It’s not every day you have an adult rap about the lesson.”
• “There was a lot of creativity which went into the lyrics. I think it flowed very well and had a great end.”
• “The rap was something I did not expect. How he got through with it was a challenge, it being so long, but remembering it must have been a feat of its own.”

The rap was one which was intriguing but wonderful as well with unexpected rhymes and surprising events thrown at the audience. Day then proceeded to take questions where he said, “in schools, they don’t teach you this... One day I was just wondering what had happened in the world, and I saw a rap on the TV and thought ‘I could do that’, and that’s how it came about.” With the assembly coming to an end, Year 11 gave a spectacular round of applause to Philip Day and gave Miss Dua, the organiser, a collective thank you.

Report by Zubair Karmalkar - 11 Green