John Toal

And then we started on the Legends in the School song.

Now, in hindsight, I should have known that singing that song on that evening would be emotional.

I probably secretly hoped our songwriting efforts might, you know, provoke a few tears.

But nothing prepared me for what actually happened.

As they belted out the first chorus of being the best that we can be, always making you proud of me.

I spotted one of the boys standing in the middle of the stage, shoulders starting to go, tears streaming down his face as he sang, and his classmates went to him, God love him, they gathered round him, and then that started them off, and then as all the things we talked about, the breathing and the phrasing and the pitch and pronunciation, all that went out the window, and pupils and teachers and parents were in floods.

Secretly, I was loving this, congratulating myself quietly on the power of music to move people at such an important milestone in their family life.

I mean, there hadn't been a public display of emotion like this since Diana's funeral.

And then the P7 teacher came over.

She was a brilliant teacher who inspired love and respect, whether in the classroom or on the football pitch, and always told it like it was.

As I was accepting Ivor Novello songwriting awards in my head, as the kids consoled each other in a damp huddle on the stage to the muffled sobbing of their parents, she leaned across the piano and said, Well, we'll never be doing that again.