A Ripon Grammar School PE teacher will retire after 18 years in post tomorrow.
Helen Mackenzie began working at the school in 2006. She was director of sport for all Ripon schools, including the former Ripon College (now Outwood Academy), as well as 19 other primary schools surrounding the city.
However, after going part-time and focussing her efforts solely on Ripon Grammar 10 years ago, she said “the time has come” to retire and spend more time with her husband.
Ms Mackenzie, who is an England Netball level 3 coach, has taught a wide range of sports at Ripon Grammar, where she was formerly a pupil until 1986. These include netball, badminton, swimming, gymnastics, football, basketball, dance and aerobics – and that’s all in one day.
Asked about her favourite memory during her time as a teacher, Ms Mackenzie she had “far too many” to mention. But she did recount leading the netball team to qualify for the national school’s netball competition in 2015, where the girls placed fourth in the country:
“At the finals in Chester, I was checking the scoreboards and I overheard someone say ‘Ripon Grammar are the dark horses of this competition’ and I nearly burst with pride.
“In the end – having drawn with Millfield, a school with more PE staff than we have actual staff, we made the third/fourth play-off, coming fourth in the country and the highest-placed state school throughout the whole competition.”
Ms Mackenzie has “never been an elitist”, she added, and said her main priority is pupils enjoying being physically active.
“Once, when I was demonstrating a long fly over the vaulting horse, a boy said to me, ‘I never thought anybody as old as you would be that good at gym.’ A backhanded compliment, but when he then had a go himself, he said ‘did you see me miss? I flew!”
“I was buzzing for the rest of the day.”
Ms Mackenzie was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. She said one pupil’s comment helper her mental health “no end” during the “worst time of her life”:
“It was touch and go for a while but when I pulled through the worst of the treatment and returned to school, a little boy said, ‘oh miss, your eyes have turned back on!’”
Read more:
- Rare mother of pearl clouds above Harrogate and Knaresborough
- Wreath laid in Killinghall to honour heroic Harrogate airman
What’s next?
Ms Mackenzie’s life shows little sign of slowing down in semi-retirement.
She is also a deputy housemistress of the girls’ boarding house at Ripon Grammar School, which she will continue to do after stepping down as a teacher.
Ms Mackenzie said:
“Fortunately, I will still be around as will be continuing my boarding role, but RGS is in my blood.
“I came here as a student, my children came here, I’ve worked here.
“If you cut me through the middle, Ripon Grammar School will be stamped through me like a stick of rock.”
She won the British Citizen Award for outstanding work tackling food poverty, through her charity, and encouraging sport in 2021. The same year she won the Stray Ferret community awards Harry’s Heroes for her work helping disadvantaged families.
Back to Basics, which was founded in 2019, provides free ingredients and guidance for a cheap and nutritious meal to those in need.
Ms Mackenzie, whose mother Sylvia Grice died this year, said she hopes to invest more time into the initiative following retirement.
She also runs Ripon City Netball Club – which she set up 10 years ago – as well as Ripon Swimming Academy. She said:
“I intend to get fit — well fitter than I am now! — and enjoy spending time with my husband, John — not sure he will enjoy it that much!
“I also plan to volunteer in my teacher daughter Laura’s primary school, Kirkby Malzeard, to get my PE fix. I also love reading and never have time, so reading and crossword puzzles will also fill my day.”
Ms Mackenzie’s final day at Ripon Grammar School will be tomorrow.
Ripon Co-op reopens with fresh look and new facilities“I will miss the very essence of the place, the beauty of the grounds, the buildings, the fabulous pool, which is my favourite place, and, above all else, I will miss the kids.
“What amazing people they all are – I adore them and have loved working with them.”
A Co-op in Ripon has re-opened with a new look and food and drink facilities after a lengthy refurbishment.
The store on Clotherholme Road, which includes a post office, now serves coffee, ice-cream and hot snacks to take away.
The Co-op is popular with pupils from nearby Ripon Grammar School and Outwood Academy Ripon.
It is run by Southern Co-op, which operates about 200 Co-ops as well as other convenience stores and funeral homes.
The company said in a statement:
“The store was closed for three weeks in order to have a full refurbishment as it was looking a little dated.
“The store now has a completely new look featuring energy-saving refrigeration and LED lighting throughout to help use less energy. The post office remains offering the same services as before.
“The store continues to stock a delicious range of Co-op products. There is also an improved range of food and drink to go including coffee, ice-cream and hot food.”
Read more:
- £500,000 scheme in prospect to improve Ripon city centre roads
- Ripon military heritage trail plans backed by city council
- Council refuses plans for 80-bed care home in Ripon
Children raise awareness of road safety issues affecting Ripon schools
Four pupils of Holy Trinity School in Ripon are working together to raise awareness of road safety issues on nearby roads.
Kofi, Seth, Arabella and Isla were so concerned about the potential risks posed by inconsiderate, careless and law-breaking motorists, using Church Lane and Trinity Lane, that they decided to take action.
The enterprising foursome, who have the support of their parents, teachers, governors and North Yorkshire Police, were appointed as the school’s first-ever road safety officers.
Illegal parking on Trinity Lane increases the risk for both children and parents. Picture: Adam Kitching
Through contact with the police, a meeting with Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams and use of the Holy Trinity newsletter, they have been sending out messages designed to make life safer for fellow pupils and parents who walk to and from the school each day.
Kofi said:
“Each week in the UK there is an average of one death and 37 people seriously injured while going to school in the mornings or on their way home.”
Seth and Arabella both believe that children and parents on foot are put in danger by people parking illegally or stopping in the middle of the road to drop children off or pick them up.
Isla said:
“We just want people to be aware that they are putting their own children at risk as well as others, by behaving in a selfish way.”
Sue Sanderson, executive head of the Holy Trinity Federation of Schools, which includes the junior school on Church Lane and nursery on Trinity Lane, said:
“In a meeting I had with children they told me that road safety was the issue at the top of their list of concerns and that led to the appointment of our road safety officers, who have shown a great deal of initiative.”
Adam Kitching, who is vice-chair of governors at Holy Trinity and has board responsibility for health and safety, pointed out:
“Currently there is just one patrol at the crossroad between Trinity Lane and Church Lane and he does a tremendous job in looking after children and parents, but beyond that crossing point, we have Holy Trinity and St Wilfrid’s Junior School on Church Lane.
“As it is also a route for students walking to and from Outwood Academy and Ripon Grammar, there are in excess of 600 children, plus parents and grandparents on this stretch of road on each school day and we are concerned about potential accidents.”
Holy Trinity believes that an extra crossing patrol on Trinity Lane, combined with more no parking hatched areas and the introduction of short stay drop-off and pick-up bays, would make the road safer, but in the meantime, the message to all pedestrians is to take care when crossing the road.
Read more:
Missing Ripon girl found
A missing girl from Ripon has been found, police have confirmed.
North Yorkshire Police has issued an urgent appeal to find the girl this morning.
However, the force confirmed she had since been found.
Officers thanked those who had shared the appeal on social media this morning.
Read more:
- Charity shop to open in Ripon’s former Argos
- Owner of Ripon celebrity cat Badger overwhelmed by support
An audit of litter bins is being conducted in Ripon to ensure they are more evenly spread out.
Once the audit is complete, Harrogate Borough Council will be asked to relocate some of the city’s bins to areas of greater footfall.
Councillors at last week’s full Ripon City Council meeting said that while some areas are well served with bins for rubbish and dog waste, there is a dearth of them in other parts of Ripon.
Councillor Stephen Craggs, who is carrying out the city-wide audit to pinpoint the location of bins, said:
“If you look at Spa Park for example, there are six bins within close proximity to each other, but if you walk down to Clotherholme Road on the route that many Outwood and Ripon Grammar students use to go to school, they are in short supply.”
Clotherholme Road, one of the principal walking routes for students going to Outwood Academy and Ripon Grammar, has a shortage of litter bins
He added:
“At a time when we are encouraging children to walk to school, it makes sense to have litter bins that they can use along the way to avoid discarded rubbish ending up in hedgerows.
“It’s not a case of asking for new bins to be installed, but for a better distribution of them on the routes that are used by pedestrians and dog walkers.”
Read More:
Council leader Andrew Williams, who has received complaints about the lack of litter bins from residents in his ward, agrees with Cllr Craggs.
He said:
“If you add the six bins at Spa Park to the nine at Spa Gardens and the one outside Spa Baths, we have a concentration of 16 in a relatively compact area and these need to be spread out, so that they are serving more people.”
Councillors have been asked to come forward with details of any lack of litter and dog waste bins in the areas of the city that they represent, so that recommendations for relocation of existing bins can be put forward to Harrogate Borough Council.
