The Celebration of Achievement evening at the spectacular venue of The Royal Hall was a great success and provided a wonderful opportunity for the students to demonstrate their many talents and achievements.
On this very special night they recognised a whole range of achievements, academic, sporting, musical and many, for that most important ingredient of any success, effort.
It was wonderful to see so many young people come up on stage to proudly receive their award that are the pinnacle of the awards system in school.
To view the programme from the night: Awards Evening Programme 2013
On the night they welcomed Mr David Shields, Area Director for North Yorkshire, Welcome to Yorkshire as our guest speaker who gave an interesting insight into the story behind the Tour de France coming to Harrogate. This was followed by an inspiring and moving speeches by Head Girl, Ellie Rymer and Head Boy, Toby Hall.
Headteacher, Richard Sheriff opened the evening: Despite all the changes to exams and the constant chopping and changing of education policy this year, as in previous years, our students did superbly both at GCSE and A level gaining some of the best results in the school’s history and they are leaving us ready to take on the challenges of the world but also, I hope, ready to seize the many opportunities that are out there for the taking.
But it isn’t just about exam results at Harrogate Grammar School. On Tuesday our students hosted our annual Christmas Coffee morning in the Forum with over 100 senior citizens of our community attending. The warmth, grace and understanding our young people showed was wonderful and was certainly greatly appreciated by their guests.
Over the past weeks our students have also been raising money for charity, last year our students raised over £17,000 for Diabetes UK, that doesn’t happen without a great deal of effort.
And please don’t think tonight is just for those with the academic or sporting skills that allow them to fly high. We proudly celebrate the brilliant academic achievements of our students but we also recognise endeavour, resilience and the positive contribution to the life of the school that students of all abilities are able to make.
But along with the enormous efforts of the young people, and the support from you at home, success requires the commitment and skill of great teachers and support staff. I would like to thank the exceptional people who work so hard to make our school so special and give me the opportunity to stand up here and bask in the glory of these fantastic young people.
