Night of the Notables 2025

Pictured: Phoenix Sammut (Y6 2025) as Cathy Freeman

Pictured: Rayan Ayer (Y6 2025) as Charles Darwin

Pictured: Harry Kim (Y6 2025) as Marie Curie

The boys get involved in higher order thinking to break down, examine and reflect on a person’s life – what a layered and complex task! All the time (hopefully) considering their own life, what their personality strengths are and inspiring them to reach for their individual goals in the years ahead.

The nomination process at the beginning of the project is often fascinating; some boys have a person who they have chosen months beforehand because of a passion area or a family connection or an autobiography they have loved. Others flit between several people for a time, each person calling to them for different reasons before they make their choice.

Each of the writing tasks is scaffolded and introduced through mentor texts, often written by boys from previous years. We explicitly teach the questioning required, note-taking, specific written forms utilised and the design of their final products.

The project culminates in a wonderful evening where each boy dresses up as their notable, takes on their personality and presents their life, struggles and achievements through a series of one-on-one conversations as the parents, families, Year 5 boys and staff chat and enjoy a deep dive into that notable’s character and life.