Congratulations to Year 11 pupil Ruby, who has made it in to the Top 10 in the Song Academy’s Young Songwriter 2022 competition. Founded 13 years ago, Song Academy is a leading platform for young songwriters, dedicated to the future of music and the wellbeing of young people aged 8 – 18. The 2022 competition saw an impressive 852 entries from around the world. These were whittled down to 30 finalists across 4 categories of which Ruby was one with her song ‘New Year’s Eve’. A nail biting wait for further short listing on 6th May included Ruby in the Top 10 and now we wait to see if she makes the Top 3 in her category on 13th June. For Ruby, who has entered the competition in previous years, this is a truly fantastic achievement and if her journey stops here, she is a winner in our books!

Ruby was asked what the inspiration for her song was and her answer probably resonates with many of us:

“I was sick of this expectation to be happy on New Year’s Eve, and the coinciding idea that you should just forget all the bad things that have happened and move on. I wanted a chance to sit with my feelings, to acknowledge both them and the realisation that you can’t always be okay just because society tells you to be. You can take a second to grieve the things you didn’t have the chance to do, before leaping to plaster a smile on your face for the sake of the future.”