Rossett School leaders are to meet parents next week to discuss concerns about the sixth form merger with Harrogate Grammar School.

Students planning to join Rossett sixth form in autumn were informed last week they will be taught at nearby Harrogate Grammar School instead. Current Rossett sixth form students are unaffected.

The move took pupils and parents by surprise, with some questioning why they weren’t consulted and unhappy at the potential disruption.

About 65 Rossett students will be affected and school leaders held a media briefing yesterday to provide more details about the merger and the reasoning behind it. They revealed:

• The number of sixth form students at Harrogate Grammar School is expected to remain at about 650 despite the influx of Rossett students because “grade inflation” caused by covid is expected to ease, thus reducing the number of eligible students.
• Sixth form students will attend all their lessons at Harrogate Grammar School but teachers will move between the two schools.
• Rossett’s former sixth form buildings will be used as a teacher recruitment and training hub by the Red Kite Learning Trust. Rossett is due to become the trust’s 14th school in September. Harrogate Grammar School already belongs to it.

Richard Sheriff, chief executive of the trust, said collaborative sixth forms were a proven model in Harrogate, citing St Aidan’s Church of England High School and St John Fisher Catholic High School.

Mr Sheriff added there had been a long-term vision for Rossett and Harrogate Grammar School to collaborate more closely and the merger would not only achieve this but also improve education for students.

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He said better children’s outcomes was the main driver for change but acknowledged cost was also “absolutely part of this”.

Rossett’s income, which is based on student numbers, has decreased significantly in recent years due to pupil numbers falling by roughly a third from 1,500 to 1,000.

Mr Sheriff said the decline in pupil numbers was due to fewer students from Leeds attending because of higher bus fares and improved schools in Leeds as well as Rossett’s ‘requires improvement’ rating by schools inspector Ofsted.

He said the Ofsted assessment “weighed heavily” on Rossett and the merger would demonstrate the school’s commitment to improve.

Mr Sheriff added building a new joint sixth form building was a long-term dream. He said:

“It’s hard for any school to survive on their own these days. It’s not a safe place to be.”

‘We have to be realistic’

Rossett consulted with governors about the merger but not parents — why not? Mr Sheriff said:

“What would we do with the outcome of the consultation if parents said ‘we’d like to keep things as they are’?

“If we did that the school would be bankrupt next year. We have to be realistic and genuine with parents.”

Harrogate Grammar School

Tim Milburn, who will formally take up the headteacher’s role at Rossett in September after previously being deputy headteacher at Harrogate Grammar School, hopes next week’s meeting will reassure parents. He said:

“There’s been some questions and concerns but we have tried to respond to them quickly.

“The news will have come as a shock and we acknowledge there are concerns but we have thought long and hard about how we can make the best provision for children. We want Rossett to be a thriving, growing school again.”

What about special needs students that might be particularly anxious about the unwanted change of environment?

Pete Saunders, the current acting headteacher at Rossett, said:

“In that scenario, special educational needs co-ordinators will get together with parents and students and discuss what provision they need to make the transition successfully.”

Mr Saunders added another advantage of the move is that Rossett sixth formers will be able to take advantage of Harrogate Grammar School’s broader curriculum, which includes subjects such as medical science that otherwise would not be available.

Harrogate Grammar School‘s boys’ first team has been crowned under-18s national rugby union champions.

The team beat St Peter’s High School, Gloucestershire 31-20 to win the Continental Tyres Schools Bowl at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium in London. A total of 125 schools entered.

It was the first time in the school’s recent history that the under-18s reached a national final.

Coached by former Scotland International Tom Ryder, director of sport at the school and Stuart Vincent, former captain of Ilkley RFC, six of the team the team have represented Yorkshire Academy this season.

Mr Ryder said:

“This was a fantastic performance from the boys, they’ve worked very hard all year so I’m really pleased for them that it was such a great game.

Try time for HGS

Captained by Matthew Leatham, who plays for Yorkshire Academy under-18 team and vice-captained by Sam Parsons-Bastiman, who was selected for the North of England under-18 squad, the team scored five tries in the final, which was live-streamed on England Rugby’s YouTube channel.

Matthew said:

“The squad would like to thank Mr Ryder and Mr Vincent for their coaching, mentoring and encouragement throughout the season; not forgetting Michelle Farnhill, our strength and conditioning coach, who helped us keep the intensity throughout the game.

“The players would also like to thank all the travelling supporters, it certainly made a difference hearing the singing, drumming and trumpet playing.”

Kicking for glory

Harrogate Grammar’s sixth form sports academy is only in its second year, with 30 boys currently in the rugby programme.

This, along with twice-weekly gym sessions and weekly fixtures, has cultivated a more professional approach to school sport.

Evading a tackle

Headteacher Neil Renton said:

“This is an outstanding achievement to be very proud of and a reflection of their dedication, commitment and unity as a team. We are delighted to be crowned national champions.

“The academy is a unique asset to our school, championing success in netball and rugby, and we want to continue attracting students from across the county to our sixth form.”

Photographs by Leo Wilkinson Photography

The funeral of Harrogate teenager Seb Mitchell will take place this weekend.

Harrogate Grammar School tweeted today the service will be held at Christ Church in High Harrogate at midday on Saturday.

It added:

“We will never forget all that he contributed to the life of HGS.

“Seb’s family warmly welcome all of those who would like to join us in paying tribute to him on Saturday.”

Seb died at Leeds General Infirmary on February 21 — a week before his 18th birthday.

An inquest in Northallerton heard the provisional cause of death was a stab wound to the chest.

A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder.

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A Harrogate man who only took up running three years ago beat nearly 10,000 runners to win the Brighton half marathon on Sunday.

Cal Mills, 22, completed the 13.1-mile course in one hour, six minutes and 37 seconds, which was faster than the world record time until 1965, when Britain’s Ron Hill ran one hour, five minutes and 44 seconds.

Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo’s current world record is 57 minutes and 31 seconds and Mo Farah’s British record for the distance is 59 minutes and 32 seconds.

What’s even more remarkable is that former Harrogate Grammar School student Cal only started running at the age of 19 and is virtually unknown in the sport.

He won his first event, the Guy Fawkes 10k organised by Nidd Valley Road Runners, in 2021 and followed that up by winning the Harrogate 10k last year.

Leading the field in last year’s Harrogate 10k.

After finishing 10th in this year’s Manchester half marathon, he turned up in Brighton hoping for a decent time and ended up smoking everyone, being cheered to victory by thousands of people on his way to the finish line. He said:

“It’s absolutely mad. It was the craziest atmosphere I have ever run in. I have never felt like that before when I crossed the line.”

Cal, who is in his final year studying history at the University of Leeds and runs for Leeds City Athletic Club, wasn’t into running at school and only got into the sport seriously during lockdown.

In the space of three years he has gone from Stray jogger to elite distance runner. The Brighton half marathon, which was being held for the 33rd time, is a major event on the British road running circuit.

Celebrating in Brighton on Sunday

Cal’s next event will be the London marathon in April and despite his achievements he isn’t putting any pressure on himself.

“It’s been a surreal journey. Nobody knew my name at Brighton. If I had started when I was younger, who knows where I could have taken it.

“But I just want to enjoy it. If I end up being a high standard club runner that’s fine by me.”

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Harrogate Grammar School has received a £50,000 grant from The Wolfson Foundation to improve the sixth form’s science facilities.

The grant-making charity, which focuses on supporting research and education projects, has awarded more than £2 million to organisations in Yorkshire and the Humber in its latest round of funding.

This is the second time the foundation has awarded funds to HGS’ science department.

Five years ago it issues a grant to the main school’s science laboratory facilities.  This second award will be used to refurbish the biology lab, create an up-to-date space for students to conduct all practical elements of their studies and also provide a teacher demonstration area.

David Robson, assistant headteacher at HGS, said:

“I’m delighted that this award will aid the enhancement of our science facilities in sixth form, leading to a more engaging teaching environment. Flexible spaces will enable more effective delivery of the suite of science qualifications.”

Headteacher Neil Renton said:

“It is an honour to receive this funding, recognising our vision to create greater access to modern teaching spaces.

“The plans facilitate effective teaching of both theory and practical elements across the science qualifications”.

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A Harrogate headteacher has said he is torn between his head and heart over this week’s teacher strike.

Children in years seven to 10 and year 12 at Harrogate Grammar School will study remotely from home on Wednesday when the first of four days of planned industrial action take place.

Pupils in years 11 and 13 will attend school as usual and have lessons if teachers are not striking.

Speaking on the BBC News channel today, headteacher Neil Renton said half of the school’s 115 staff belonged to the National Education Union, whose members had balloted in favour of the strikes.

Mr Renton said that as head he was keen to ensure the school stayed open but at the same time he could see the issues teachers faced and he therefore had conflicting emotions between his head and heart.

He said “there are just not enough teachers out there” and added one recent vacancy for an English teacher at the 2,000-pupil school attracted just one application.

Mr Renton, who said the union he belonged to would not be on strike this week, said too many teachers were leaving the profession. He added:

“If this continues and we are not able to work with government and ministers to create an education for the future I would, as an educator, want to take steps to make sure we make a much brighter education for our children.”

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Mr Renton said Department for Education guidance stated schools should prioritise students taking exams and therefore pupils in years 11 and 13 would attend school as normal and either have lessons when teachers were not striking or undertake private study.

Other schools set for ‘unavoidable impact’

Harrogate Grammar School is part of Red Kite Learning Trust, which also manages Oatlands Junior School, Coppice Valley Primary School, Rossett Acre Primary School, Western Primary School in the Harrogate district.

Richard Sheriff

Red Kite chief executive Richard Sheriff sent a letter alongside Mr Renton’s saying “a very significant number of our teachers” are members of the NEU and “sadly it is unavoidable that this will have an impact on the provision we offer across our schools on the strike days”. He added:

“The impact will vary considerably from school to school, depending on the number of staff who are members of the union concerned and who decide to support the action.

“Red Kite Learning Trust is the employer for all our teachers and staff in schools, and we have received some information from the National Education Union (NEU) about how many members are in each of our schools. This information does not give us the full picture, however, as we do not know which teachers will choose to actually be on strike on the days concerned. Headteachers/principals will therefore have to cope with a high degree of uncertainty, as they plan for the strike days.”

He added:

A professional musician who grew up in Harrogate will return to the town in eight days to give a lunchtime recital.

The London Horn Duo will play at the Wesley Centre on January 9 as part of the venue’s monthly concert series.

The duo consists of Kerin Black and Jo Withers, nee Greenberg, who went to school in Harrogate and whose family still live in the town.

Jo began playing the violin aged four and the piano aged five before learning the French horn almost by chance In her final year at St Peter’s Church of England Primary School.

Her sister, Sarah, played the clarinet in Harrogate Grammar School’s orchestra and band. The school’s head of music at the time, Brian Hunt, told Sarah he had lots of violinists but was short of brass players and if Jo would learn French horn to a reasonable standard he would take her on the band’s foreign tour when she joined the grammar school.

So she took lessons with Stephen Price, which proved to be the start of her career as a professional musician.

After attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama she freelanced in London for 10 years before taking an extended sabbatical to home-educate her children.

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Jo now plays for film and TV sessions, orchestras including the LSO, RPO and London Chamber Orchestra and is a regular guest principal for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

For the past 18 years she has been a member of the orchestra of English Touring Opera, and travelling round the UK with her children, Charli and Nathan and their grandparents Mike and Maureen Greenberg.

The London Horn Duo was created in 2020 when Ms Black and Ms Withers formed a lockdown bubble two decades after meeting as students in the Britten-Pears Orchestra. Ms Black grew up near Washington DC.

Their programme at the Wesley Centre includes:

Otto Nicolai – Sonata in A Minor

Bernhard Krol – Laudatio (Kerin solo)

Mozart – selection from Twelve Pieces for Two Horns K.487

Catherine Likhuta – I Threw a Shoe at a Cat: Theme, Waltz, Yazz,
Finale (Jo solo)

Tickets cost £10 on the door or in advance from Andrew Hitchen on 01423883618 or email a.hitchen81@gmail,com

Harrogate Grammar School has submitted plans to light up its games pitch until 8pm in a bid to boost youth sport in the wake of the pandemic.

An original application in 2015 restricts the use of floodlighting after 6pm.

However, the school said this year several youth teams had struggled to play, particularly during the winter months when ground conditions in town were poor.

In a letter to neighbouring residents asking for their support, business and operations manager, Tom Stephen, wrote:

“The last two years of the pandemic have been challenging for us all, not least in the impact of school closures and restrictions on team sports for young people.

“We want to support the growth of youth sport and one way in which we hope to achieve this is by increasing the access of our facilities.”

He added that in the context of increased demand and in an effort create opportunities for young people to recover from the pandemic, the school felt it was the right time to apply for the extension.

It would see the pitch open from 9am until 8pm Monday to Friday.

He said:

“We will only allow the astro to be used by youth coached teams in order to support our aim of the growth of youth sport.”

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Harrogate Borough Council environmental health officer, Gemma Demaline, said she had no objections to the plans.

She said:

“As the lights are likely to be required during the darker months when surrounding noise sensitive residents are likely to be inside their properties, the impact from noise from the proposed use of the site will be limited.”

Earlier this month St Aidan’s Church of England High School revealed its new floodlit artificial sports pitch was set to open from 6pm to 8pm for community clubs to use.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Grammar School said:

“We want to support the growth of youth sport after the restrictions the pandemic put on team sports and we hope to achieve this by increasing the access of our facilities.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will make a decision on the application at a later date.

Harrogate Olympian Axel Brown has treated children at his former prep school to a special show and tell.

Axel Brown attended Brackenfield School between 1995-2003 and returned recently to talk about competing in the two-man bobsleigh at this year’s winter Olympics in Beijing, representing Trinidad and Tobago, the country of his mother’s birth.

Children had the chance to sit in Mr Brown’s bobsleigh and ask questions about his rise to Olympic fame.

Children try out the bobsleigh.

When he competed in Beijing, the school took time out of the day to watch on the big screen and cheer him on.
Mr Brown, who had seen a video of the children watching him, said:

“Seeing the kids cheering me on and chanting my name still gives me goosebumps. Seeing that was genuinely one of the most fulfilling moments of the whole experience. It’s those moments that make it all worth it.”

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Joe Masterson, headteacher at Brackenfield, said:

“Representing Trinidad and Tobago on the international stage is a huge accolade not only for Axel, but for us too – we couldn’t be more proud of the heights Axel has reached so far and we’re certain there is more to come from our super-fast and super-agile ex-pupil!”

Mr Brown, who also attended Harrogate Grammar School, played American football for Division 1 NCAA team the Colorado State Rams before taking up bobsleigh in 2014.

He said:

“I have always preferred sports with short fast efforts like sprinting, which is why I played American football in place of rugby. I also like the idea of taking one aspect of a skill and trying to do it really well, so bobsleigh has allowed me to focus and really find a niche.”

Founded in 1977, Brackenfield, is an independent school for boys and girls aged two to 11.