A LEADING grammar school has been forced to cancel its Sixth Form Open Evening at short notice, due to the uncertainty surrounding the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
Ripon Grammar School, a top-performing state school with boarding, was expecting many hundreds of prospective students and parents from all over the country to attend on January 17.
Headmaster Jonathan Webb said he and his senior leadership team had, very reluctantly, made the difficult decision to cancel given the spread of the new variant: “It is very sad to have to cancel our Open Evening as it is always a delight to be able to welcome prospective new entrants and share everything that RGS has to offer with them.”
In place of the event at school, those who planned to attend are being encouraged to visit the school’s Online Open Day, now on the website, which features video talks from staff and students, as well as virtual tours of sports facilities and boarding accommodation.
It also includes a short video featuring Ripon and its surrounds for those prospective boarding students who may not be able to explore the area at this time.
Mr Webb said he hoped the online material would give prospective students a real flavour of the unique school, adding that RGS hoped to organise tours for prospective boarding families in the near future.
Ripon Grammar School was named ‘Top state school in the North’ by The Sunday Times for the ninth year running last month.
*Applications for 2022 sixth form entry close on February 7. For more information, please visit www.ripongrammar.co.uk