Students have been rewarded for their achievements and excellence in all areas of life at Richmond School and Sixth Form College’s annual presentation evening. The School hall was packed with an audience of proud families, teachers and other members of the community who responded with rapturous applause as the students received their accolades.
To respect the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the evening commenced with Mrs Potter leading a tribute to the Queen. The audience stood while the Brass Ensemble played ‘The March from the funeral music for the funeral of Queen Mary’, by Henry Purcell and the National Anthem.
After welcoming everyone to the event, Head Students Ellen Atkinson and Peter Longstaff introduced Jason Burt, former student and the Telegraph’s Chief Football Correspondent, who delivered an inspirational account of his career in journalism and the importance of ambition, self-belief, commitment and resilience in pursuing career goals.
After graduating from Cambridge, Jason worked for regional papers and The Daily Mail. In 1998 he fulfilled his ambition of becoming the News Editor of The Independent by the time he was thirty years old, and went on to become the Executive Editor. He was in charge of news the day the planes hit the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 and also ran General Election coverage. However, his passion of football led him to become a sports journalist. He has covered four World Cups, three European Championships and countless matches, travelling to more than 60 countries and is the current football writer of the year.
Jason spent a day with English, Media and Sport CTEC students to share his experiences of working in the media and sport, offering advice to those who are interested in pursuing a career in journalism. Jason was also privileged to spend time with the Girls’ football team and enjoyed a tour of the school and college. Jason said: “I was honoured to be invited to present the awards and it has brought back so many happy and positive memories of my time here. Like me, the students are really fortunate to have inspirational, enthusiastic and supportive teachers who encourage them to believe they can succeed.”
Jenna Potter, Headteacher, said: “Presentation Evening holds a very special place in our calendar as we mark the outstanding achievements of our students and continue to celebrate everything that is so wonderful about our school and college. It is an evening to share joy and acknowledge all the attributes we desire to see in our students which mirror our CREDIT Values of Creativity, Respect, Excellence, Determination, Independence and Teamwork. They are fabulous role models for their peers and an enormous credit to themselves, their families and their teachers.”
Over 130 Awards were presented for subjects for each year group with overall subject cup winners, as well as a number of special awards. The Headteacher’s award was presented to Isaac Ulunasobu, age 13. Jenna Potter, Headteacher, commented, “Isaac is an absolutely exceptional student and one of only a few students to have won the Headteacher’s Values Award twice in one year. The first occasion was for his tremendous presentation about Fiji, where his family come from. The second award was for his kindness when helping a new student settle into Year 8. Isaac always goes above and beyond and he has gone on to personally look after three Ukrainian students. His Fijian name is Ratu, which means ‘natural born leader’ – this absolutely sums him up.”
Megan Crozier, an accomplished musician, received the Arts Performing Cup. For seven years, Megan has devoted an incredible amount of time to the Music Department, being a valued member of many of the school ensembles and has played in every single Concert Band, Jazz Band and Orchestra concert. She also invested time in our younger players, supporting and directing the Junior Band. Megan achieved Grade 8 in Saxophone and Oboe and gained a perfect mark of 108/108 in her A-level Music Performance Component and she is heading to Newcastle University to study for a degree in Music. During the evening she delighted the audience with her stunning rendition of Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morricone.
Charlie Giddens collected the John Blenkiron Cup in recognition of securing a highly-sought-after apprenticeship with Worldline, with Jacob Moore picking up the Dave Courtenay Work Experience Cup for his excellence during his placement with Jacobs Engineering. Other cup winners included Katie Wade, Ethan Raine, Evie Dobson, Holly Brydon and Leo Vogel.
Richard Crane, CEO of Areté Learning Trust, concluded: “Our awards recognise the exceptional achievements of our students, not only in their academic work but also in the community and the world of work. Our school ethos of “being the best we can be” underpins everything we do and it has been an honour to witness the amazing levels of excellence achieved by our students as they collected their well-earned awards this evening. We look forward to watching our students continue to succeed and wish those who are taking up their places at universities or starting apprenticeships or jobs the very best in the future.”