STUDENTS’ achievements have been celebrated at an annual prize presentation which recognised both the performance of pupils and their former headmaster.
This year’s sixth form leavers from Ripon Grammar School returned for Speech Day where their success as the highest performing A level students in Yorkshire and the North East was marked.
Most of the year group is now at university studying subjects from archaeology to zoology, at centres from Exeter to Edinburgh, with four at Cambridge University and one at Oxford University.
Among them are eight medics, one dentist, five vets, eight engineers and 11 historians, with others reading subjects as diverse as Chinese and criminology, performing arts and real estate.
The alumni were joined by students who excelled in their GCSEs in the summer and an audience of civic dignitaries, family members and staff.
Jonathan Webb, giving his first speech as the school’s new headmaster, paid tribute to the students and his staff team, and also to Martin Pearman, who retired this year after 13 years leading the school.
He said: “The school is well placed to continue forging ahead in the future. It seems clear to me that with such a great body of students, a strong and dedicated professional staff and the affection and support the school holds within the wider community, there is still a great desire to continue to build not just physically but also as a community.”
In his message to students who left the school this year, Mr Webb said: “The ties of one’s schooling are often there for many – maybe extremely thin, but they should never quite snap. Yes, we might never physically return, yes, we might lose old friends, but a good school which is based on strong values enters our soul, provides us with the formative lessons and experiences that never quite leave us. We should always retain affection and a memory.”
Mr Pearman was also recognised by Chair of Governors, Dr Peter Mason, who praised his “inexorable ambition”.
Dr Mason told the students: “Success doesn’t just happen by chance, it requires purposeful commitment. We hope that one of the legacies of Ripon Grammar School is that you will be eager to continue learning and serving, not just through school and university but for the rest of your lives.”
Guest speaker, the Reverend Professor David Wilkinson, principal of St John’s College, Durham University, congratulated the students on their success.
He added: “The thing that enables you to be better tomorrow, that enables you to get perspective, is not knowledge in itself, it’s wisdom. I want to encourage you to search for wisdom because life is about more than just exam success or 15 minutes of fame.”
Prizes were given to A Level students who achieved four A*-A passes and three A*s and a B grade, as well as to exceptional performers in individual subjects and for services to the school or community.
GCSE students who gained a C grade or higher in every subject were recognised, along with prizes for particular subjects.
In his report, Mr Webb said the school had grown to its biggest roll ever with 936 pupils.
Its A Level results of 59% of all grades being A, or better, put it in the top ten per cent of schools nationally for adding value.
At GCSE, 64 per cent of all grades were A*-A or, in mathematics and English, the new 9-7 top grades. Of only 2,000 students nationally to gain all grade 9s where available, nine were from Ripon Grammar School.
Mr Webb thanked staff for helping the school to achieve an outstanding judgement from Ofsted for its boarding provision and all staff and students for raising more than £11,000 for the Candlelighters charity during Charity Week.