Prize winners at John Kyrle High School 2019

Students, parents and carers, former staff, community representatives and supporters of John Kyrle High School, Ross-on-Wye, joined headteacher Nigel Griffiths, his staff and governors for the school’s annual prize-giving on Thursday, September 19.

The guest of honour was former student Dan Cox.

Chair of governors Denise Strutt welcomed everyone to the evening. She thanked parents and carers for their continued trust in the school and said staff would continue to do all they could to meet the expectations.

She thanked staff for their continued hard work and commitment to the school. She also acknowledged the hard work of her fellow governors.

Mr Griffiths began by thanking the chair of governors for all that she does to support the school. He then thanked guests for attending, including former mayoress Anne Gray, current deputy mayor Daniel Lister, Cllr Chris Bartrum and Jenny Symmington from Ross Leos.

He said how delighted he was that Don Rule, MBE, was able to join them. Mr Griffiths told the audience that Mr Rule had gained the MBE for his services in the RAF as a wing commander.

He thanked Mr Rule for his work over many years within Herefordshire, including his particular focus on and support for schools as the county's cabinet member for education. Mr Rule and Mr Griffiths had both met the Queen when she visited John Kyrle in 2003.

Mr Griffiths congratulated all his students for their successes and efforts. His speech focused on the school’s successful balancing of academic achievement and strong teaching while providing wide-ranging opportunities for students.

He said he, his staff and governors want students to enjoy their time at school, learn about life, develop values, shape their character, focus on their future career and become the well-rounded citizens of the future. This was all encompassed within the school’s mantra of happy, healthy, successful.

He gave examples of the trips, visits, listening to external speakers and participation in sports and the arts that his students had involved themselves with throughout the school year.

He said students had represented the school and the town locally, nationally and internationally, and he thanked his staff, governors, parents/carers and community groups for their continued support in allowing students to have such wide-ranging and enjoyable experiences.

Lily Powell, William Watkins and Soyam Serchan were the recipients of this year’s Pride of John Kyrle awards. They all joined Mr Griffiths on the stage.

He praised their bravery, perseverance and good humour in overcoming challenges and emerging as popular and valued members of the school community.

Mr Griffiths concluded his presentation by speaking directly to those students who were leaving John Kyrle. They are moving on to universities, colleges, training, employment and a number will be travelling across the world while taking a gap year. He said he wished them every success.

Guest of honour Dan Cox congratulated all the prize winners. He said he was impressed with the range of areas in which students had given of their best.

Dan said how much he had enjoyed his time at John Kyrle and how the experience had prepared him well for Cambridge University and the world of work.

He outlined some of his experiences as an engineer where complex problem solving is broken down into a series of simple steps.

According to Dan, the maths and physics concepts he had learned so well at John Kyrle were invaluable in his daily work.

He encouraged students to work hard and focus on how teachers at John Kyrle can help them met their aspirations as they had dome for him.

Ben Thorne and Kate Ormiston, head boy and head girl, thanked Dan for his excellent speech. Like Dan, they congratulated all the prize winners and said how impressed they were with all that had been achieved.

Ben and Kate both gave their experiences of life at John Kyrle, saying how much they valued the opportunities they had. They thanked Mr Griffiths, the staff and the governors for all their hard work in supporting students.

Full list of prize winners

1 Brent Vinall Award for the Promotion of British Values Debbie Boyd, Elliott Sherlock

2 Neil Carroll Award for Year 11 Painting Grace Robbins

3 Award for Year 13 Pottery Jenny Bell

4 Award for Year 11 Pottery Poppy Lusty

5 Ross Arts Society Award for Year 13 Fine Art Chelsie Neville

6 Arts Progress Prize Kieran Bridges

7 Ben Abbott Drama Award Jasmin Licqurish

8 Middleton Prize (English) Bridie Adams

9 Ross Gazette Prize (English Progress) Jake Mitchell

10 Geography Prize (Year 11) Nye Morgan, Aidan Harris

11 Geography Prize (Year 13) Beth Samuel, Will Freer

12 History Prize for outstanding academic achievement (GCSE) Leo Semple, Evie Sutton

13 Sue Vinall Award for Excellence in History Carly Davies, Dan Treherne

14 Farmplan Prize (for Computing) Calum Brown

15 Wyenet Prize (for effort in ICT) Maddy Purcell, Paige Cropp

16 Prize for Endeavour in ICT Ellie Brookes, Manpreet Shergill

17 Prize for Endeavour in Computer Science Ben Carpenter

18 Mathematics Prize (Lower School) Shelby Mortimore Wells

19 Mathematics Prize (Middle School) Theo Higgs, Joseph Hoult

20 Built-off-site Mathematics Prize (Sixth Form) Craig Collett

21 Unlisted

22 Elspeth Sims Modern Language Prize: French Felicity Cook, Leila Zsohar

23 Modern Language Prize: German Leo Semple, Uaine Preston, Issy Baker Gracie Hartley

24 Modern Language Prize: Spanish Ethan Powell, Dom Croad, Jared James Ben Deards

25 Balthasar Award for Lower School Modern Foreign Languages Rosie Ainsworth

26 Music Prize (Lower School) Eben Harris

27 Music Prize (Upper School) Leila Zsohar

28 Music Prize (Sixth Form) Abi Morrissey, Jack Morgan

29 The Alston Family’s Prize (for Brass Musician) Jasmin Licqurish

30 Headteacher’s Prize: Contribution to Music Ruth Bradford, Megan Thompson

31 Prize for Enthusiasm in Sport William Watkins, Luke Timewell, Lucy Bevan Randsley

32 Prize for Contribution to Junior Sport Ben Deards, Zoe Whitehouse

33 Clive Richards Prize for Sporting Excellence Adam Davies, Heidi Brodholt

34 Child Development Prize Lydia Smith

36 Sociology Prize Tia Wynn

37 Psychology Prize Emma Chatterton, Morgan Smith

38 Morris Bricknell Prize (Business Studies) Sam Brady, Luke Firkin

39 RE Prize for Year 11 Daisy Woodman

40 Biology Prize Isla Kendall

41 Chemistry Prize Jacob Hyett

42 Physics Prize Dan Champness

43 Science Prize (Lower School) Mia Turley, Alex Stinchcombe

44 Clearwell Quarries Prize (for A2 Geology) Adam Middlecote

45 Josh Davies Memorial Award (AS Geology) Kate Ormiston

46 Design Technology Prize Charlotte Buttriss

47 ABT Prize (for Engineering) Will Holmes

48 Graphics Prize Abbie Price

49 Design Technology Prize (Lower School) Sophia Stallard

50 Resistant Materials Prize Leo Semple

51 Food Technology Prize Alina Gurung

52 Textiles Prize (Year 11) Evie Sutton, Felicity Cook

53 Textiles Prize (Year 13) Lucy Rabone, Isla Kendall

54 Jane Turner Award (for Overcoming Barriers to Learning) Brodie Griffiths

55 Achievement in Literacy Charlotte Wright, Elijah Butler, Daryl Cawthorne

56 Okells Book Award Olivia Teague, Jack Moore

57 Outstanding Academic Achievement (Year 12) Ruth Bradford

58 Outstanding Academic Achievement (Year 13) Isla Kendall

59 Mel Lloyd Award (for Outstanding Contribution to School Life) Manpreet Shergill, Brad Reynolds, Chris Stonadge

60 Unlisted

61 Unlisted

62 Unlisted

63 Unlisted

64 Headteacher’s Prize: Head Girl (2018-19) Isla Kendall

65 Headteacher’s Prize: Head Boy (2018-19) Adam Middlecote Ross Lions Award, presented by Jenny Symington, Megan Thompson

67 Ethics/Religious Studies Prize Year 13 Lucy Drew White