Education is great and to attend a school like St James's in West Malvern is a fantastic privilege - but all the cool things in life happen when you've left school.

This was the message to an Anstruther Hall packed with pupils, parents and staff for the end of year commemoration on Friday from the guest of honour, former Worcester Cathedral chorister and now successful composer Paul Farrer.

Paul, who left school at 16 and modestly described himself as "half-educated", nonetheless gave his audience a lively and thought-provoking talk. The value of education, he said, was not so much about what you learn as about learning how to learn, and learning never stopped. "Keep an open mind and accept that change is coming. Many of the jobs you will do haven't even been invented yet," he said.

Just in case his address got too heavy, Paul seasoned it with items of trivia, to which he confessed himself an addict.

Perhaps the most memorable was that the armadillo is the only animal apart from man that can contract leprosy!

Headmistress Ros Hayes reported another successful academic year for the school, with 100 per cent A-level passes, 70 per cent of them A and B grades, with four girls having achieved straight As.