Parents host ‘celebration’ for Parham Primary School graduates after cancellation dismay

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Members of the graduating class of the Parham Primary School during a school leaving ‘celebration’ organised by their parents, after the official school event was unceremoniously cancelled
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The power of community was on full display recently when the parents of this year’s graduating class at Parham Primary School took matters into their own hands and organised a school leaving celebration, after the disappointment of the school’s official graduation being unceremoniously cancelled.

In a June 14 letter to the parents – the majority of whom were said to be anticipating the ceremony just as much as their young ones – the principal stated: “Regrettably, as previously discussed, we write to inform you that due to the continuous disrespectful and inappropriate behaviours experienced by the staff and the principal, we have decided to cancel this year’s graduation ceremony.

“We humbly apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause and wish you and your child all the very best in their future endeavours,” the letter added.

According to one parent who spoke to Observer on condition of anonymity, the news of the cancellation was completely unexpected, as the parents and the children were heavily in preparation mode.

“We had a meeting [and] set a date for the graduation which would have been the 27th of June. Money was paid [$350], graduation package was set, gown-fitting, picture date [and] all the other amenities were set.

“Maybe a week and a half before graduation, a message was sent in our group chat [that] we should come to the school ASAP [because] a letter was at the school for the parents to come and collect.

“We [thought] it was something pertaining to graduation. When we went to the school, that was the letter … graduation was cancelled; not a meeting to say why the graduation was cancelled,” the parent explained.

The letter from the principal went on to advise that “any funds that were paid into the graduation committee will be fully refunded and available at your earliest convenience for collection at the school”.  

Though taken aback by the situation, the parents were said to have regrouped soon after and decided that the years their children spent in school should be celebrated, regardless of the disappointment.

They then embarked on a mission that would end with the majority of the 13-member graduating class decked out in hats and sashes, and being applauded for their success.

“We don’t know if we’re going to live to see our kids go through high school, so we said … seven years of primary school? We had to do something for our kids,” the parent who spoke to Observer said, adding that “we came together … we wrote a [sponsorship] letter and sent it to each and every person that we knew [and] we put our hands in our pockets. It was okay [in the end]. We went to a church that the school usually uses, [but that] was a setback [until] we got [another] church and that church said yes.”

This effort and the overall execution of the small ceremony last Sunday was well received by the graduating students, who were reportedly very emotional on the day. There was also a ton of commendation from the wider public on social media for the parents, who some referred to as “heroes” for stepping in and ensuring their children were celebrated.

The jubilation that came with the celebration went some way to overshadow the disappointment of the cancelled school event, but questions still linger about the decision made by the principal and the reasons behind it.

Some unverified claims are that the “disrespectful and inappropriate behaviours experienced by the staff and the principal” are not in reference to student actions, as some have assumed, but instead to some internal strife among top-level administrators at the school.

Observer has reached out to the school for clarity on the situation.

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