Girl first to take on traditionally male role in historic ceremony - The Stratford Observer

Girl first to take on traditionally male role in historic ceremony

Stratford Editorial 7th Apr, 2019   0

A LEADING role in a historic ceremony will be taken on by a girl for the first time in a century.

The first head girl of King Edward VI School (KES) will carry the quill from Shakespeare’s birthplace to the bust of the bard at his grave at Holy Trinity Church during the birthday celebrations on Sunday April 28.

Tazmin Chape will be the first girl to take on the role, which has historically been carried out by the head boy at Shakespeare’s old school.

The school, which is some 460 years old, only taught boys until 2013.




Eighteen-year-old Tazmin, who studies science and maths, said: “It is such an honour to be able to make history as the first head girl to do it, although there is certainly a lot of pressure to get it right.

“I’ll be concluding the celebrations with the quill ceremony on the Sunday and on the Saturday during the main parade the whole school will be involved with over 700 pupils joining with the traditional parade to Shakespeare’s grave.”


The birthday celebrations will take place throughout the weekend.

KES headteacher Bennett Carr says the school is looking forward to continuing its involvement celebrating the life of their world famous old boy.

He said: “Shakespeare’s birthday celebrations are in our DNA, having begun the traditional of parading to lay flowers on Shakespeare’s grave back in 1893. We are proud to have Tazmin as our first head girl and to have her taking a leading role in the celebrations this year.

“Shakespeare plays an important role in the identity of KES. We continue to use the room Shakespeare’s was taught in and have done so every year since the 1560s.”

Visit www.shakespearescelebrations.com to find out more about the celebrations.

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