What happens when teenagers in London’s East End break up from school for the half-term in the middle of taking their GCSEs before graduation? They sign each other’s shirts!

East London Advertiser: Putting their backs into itPutting their backs into it (Image: Morpeth Secondary)

That’s what 230 Year-11 pupils at Bethnal Green’s Morpeth School did when they took part in a mass-signing of school shirts, marking the beginning of the countdown to their graduation.

The pupils, who are mid-way through taking their exams, took a break to sign their farewells on friends’ shirts at lunchtime yesterday.

“Shirt signing is a rite of passage that’s very much part of school culture,” Headteacher Jemima Reilly explained.

“Fortunately we have the space for all pupils to come together in one place, to write their messages and share their memories.

East London Advertiser: Putting their backs into itPutting their backs into it (Image: Morpeth Secondary)

“It’s a touching experience, and we were lucky it turned out to be a gloriously sunny afternoon for the mass-signing to take place outside.”

Her pupils officially leave when their exams are over—so it was almost a last chance for the 16-year-olds to put their markers on their pals’ shirts as a momento.

Most were quite emotional, like Khalid who said: “I’m not going to see the friends anymore that I’ve known for four or five years. I’m going to keep my shirt and frame it.”

Classmate Zannatul said: “It’s so sad—I’ve had these friends for five years. I’ll also miss my teachers.

East London Advertiser: Putting their backs into itPutting their backs into it (Image: Morpeth Secondary)

“I’m going to put my shirt with the rest of my uniform away in a cupboard.”

Another, Naseem, added ruefully: “I’ll miss everyone here—I’m going to hang my shirt on the wall.”

Morpeth’s official Friday graduation ceremony is on June 19.

And what of ‘the great unwashed’? No word yet from mums about the teenagers storing the unwashed shirts in their bedroom.