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Another incredible year of achievements at The Skipton Academy

Another incredible year of achievements at The Skipton Academy!

As we approach the end of another academic year it has been a year full of many highlights at the Skipton Academy. The school has seen continued growth in the number of students joining and they are looking forward to welcoming its largest cohort to date. The school has had a glowing monitoring visit from the Ofsted inspectors in which it recognised that the school was well on its way to being classified as good and to top it off the school has continued to celebrate the many achievements of our students.

Following a successful application process the school secured funding and was assigned a school games coordinator. The role of the school games coordinator, allowed the school to develop its working relationship with its primary schools. This allows primary students to consider the importance of both physical and mental health, whilst also providing students at The Skipton Academy the chance to develop and demonstrate great leadership skills.

The school continued to further develop its extra-curricular provision, ensuring that throughout the course of this academic year over 40 different extra-curricular clubs have operated providing their students to develop new skills and enhance the learning taking place as part of the curriculum

The school has seen continued success in the sporting field, with Aniq Tabassum who jumped his way to victory at the Harrogate and Craven Schools Athletics Championships. Having qualified for the final with a jump of 4.05 metres in round 1 at Giggleswick on 14th June against competitors in the Craven area, he returned to the same venue for the final on 23rd June, where schools from Harrogate and surrounding areas come together.  In his second jump of the final, he jumped out to 4.28 metres, winning by a comfortable 15cm ahead of second place.  In the process he set a new school record, which had stood at 4.17 metres since 2002.

Aaron Macrae was recognised as a gifted athlete and offered free membership of Craven Leisure. The scheme supports home-grown sports people to continue to progress and hone their sports skills, while achieving success and recognition at local and national level.

The student success continued into our creative subjects. A group of students from Year 7 through to Year 11 have been working with the Royal Shakespeare Company helping to deliver a performance at St. Georges hall in Bradford, in addition to this, Adam Hussain a Year 10 student was recently selected as one of 7 students out of 127 applicants from across the country to join the RSC Next Generation Act. As a new member, Adam was selected for his ‘passion, instinct, and skill as a young performer.’ Next Generation Act is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s talent development programme for young performers aged 13-18.

A group of our Year 10 students had the opportunity to work with artist Alex Blakey. Alex shared her expertise of the glass making process, and the world of public art with the students.  During the session students explored how fused glass can be used to create tiles depicting rivers. The completed tiles formed part of a larger art installation in Gargrave. Year 9 students created sheep in an art deco style, that were showcased during the most recent Sheep Day and Pride Event. Year 8 students have participated in producing artwork to celebrate The Northern Broadsides Theatre companies 30th anniversary. 

The school has continued to explore opportunities to broaden the horizons of our students providing them with opportunities to visit the theatre; training to become dementia friends; explore local history. In recognition of the work carried out by the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) club and the schools support of students new to STEM, it received a range of kits from OKdo to further spark curiosity, innovation and excitement.

To broaden student’s horizons and showcase to them the range of opportunities available to them post life at The Skipton Academy and in the world of work, the school invited over 90 individuals from companies, colleges, universities, sixth form providers. Students had the opportunity to interact with employers to inspire them to consider the different careers available to them.

Students visited Belgium and France as part of the Battlefields trip. An opportunity to reflect and commemorate the sacrifices made in World War One and World War Two. Students learnt about the sacrifices made by soldiers as young as 12.  This opportunity gave students the chance to truly reflect on the words of Winston Churchill, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”.

To complement the work taking place in their English lessons, students were asked to write a short 500 word story or poem exploring the topic of the environment as part of the Skipton Rotary Club Young Writers competition. In recognition of the excellent work the school secured all top three prizes for the middle age category.

To challenge the students a group of Year 9 students have worked with a PHD student this academic year, exploring the use of nanotechnology in medicine. Students were required to carry out research write a 2500-word essay on this topic. To celebrate the work students were invited to attend a mock graduation ceremony at Newcastle University.

Students have learnt the importance of teamwork, collaboration and community as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. The cohort was the largest in the school’s history to complete this award with many now excited to begin their Silver Award next academic year.

Richard McManus, Principal of The Skipton Academy said “It has been a truly amazing year for the school in all sorts of different ways. To see our students performing so well in so many areas is fantastic and we know that success will continue to grow as the school grows in numbers again next year. We can look forward to expanding the curriculum and giving students even more opportunities to show off their talents in sports, performing arts, science or wherever their interests lie! I’m so proud of all our staff and students and genuinely excited for the next academic year when I know we will achieve even more.” 

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