At the heart of every school, there are a handful of students who go beyond what is expected of them. At our school in particular, there is one student valued more than most, who is particularly passionate about our Sixth Form and the students within it. In his final few weeks as Head Boy, we were lucky enough to have a cheeky interview with the legend himself, Tony Allen.
Tony is most well known for his top class banter and hilarious puns showcased in the Sixth Form assemblies every other Tuesday. For some students, going to assembly was once a dread, but now this is the highlight of their week! They look forward to assemblies due to his addition, waiting on what joke he is going to pull out next! We asked Tony where he got his inspiration for his jokes from; he told us, “I don’t have a particular process when deciding what to add to the basic slides. I like to push the boundaries of what to say… without going too far! One of the highlights of being in the Sixth Form was the first time I read out the Team 6 slides. Hearing the audience laugh at what I had to say really helped my self-confidence.” Laughs and jokes aside, Tony gets more nervous now when reading out the Team 6 slides, as there is an expectation to please and to make others laugh. Nevertheless, he says it’s his favourite part of his timetable.
Two of his favourite teachers, Mr. Linnell and Mr. Bowman’s quick wit and creative interactivity are said to be the inspiration behind Tony’s assemblies. Additionally, academic coaching played a huge part in this ambition to inspire the school. “Each week I really looked forward to academic coaching due to the presentational factor it brought. Everything else in the week seemed quite tame in comparison to that Wednesday morning. It was such a joy to have 31 students hanging on your every word and egging you on. When that finished I thought that coming back to Year 13 after the summer was going to be filled with the less enjoyable activities, but when I was appointed Head Boy, I got to put all the skills I learned in my academic coaching into being Head Boy and presenting to a larger crowd my own age.”
“The transition for next year looks really easy. With Will and Emily taking over from Lucy and me, I imagine it is going to be an extremely smooth change over. I remember Friday 13th March was the day I got appointed Head Boy. That evening I went to see Paul Weller. I couldn’t quite believe that I got chosen to be Head Boy, but from having such a vivid memory of my appointment I hope it will help me when handing over to Will.” This year may be the ‘best of the best’, according to Tony, although there were inevitably some exceptional candidates who were not successful. He says, “With such a high standard of applications, you can trust the Team 6 of 2016-17. My only advice to the new core team is to try and be as active as possible and interact with everyone in your Sixth Form.”
To alter the Sixth Form in one-way, Tony would consider introducing a voting system for Head Boy and Girl. “The students are at the heart of the Sixth Form, so it makes sense to me that we choose our own leader. I don’t know whether I would have been appointed Head Boy in such a system, but even if didn’t, I feel that the roles would perhaps come with more respect among students.”
“Next year I will be studying English Literature combined with History at UEA. They have a great student newspaper called Concrete, which I’d love to be a part of [to be closer to my dream of becoming a journalist]. In terms of going to university, it’s going to be such a transformation. As cheesy as it sounds, I’ve developed so much as a person over my seven years at Thorpe. I have really enjoyed my time as Head Boy and it has been amazing to represent our school and get to know so many people, especially the current Year 12s, who I am really grateful to, as many seem have really taken to me.”
we cannot get
enough of him!