Ed Balls discusses politics and stammering during Harrogate school visit

Former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls was quizzed by students about politics and life with a stammer during a visit to Harrogate’s Ashville College.

Mr Balls visited last week at the invitation of sixth former Thomas Grattoni-May, who is an advocate for stammering children and youth panel member of the charity Action for Stammering Children.

The former politician and TV personality, who is vice president of the charity, spent half an hour chatting to pupils about their studies, interests and aspirations.

Students from St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate and All Saints Roman Catholic School in York also attended and were able to take part in a question and answer session.

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Thomas Grattoni-May, former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Leanne Norton, Ashville’s Head of Sixth Form at Ashville College

Thomas Grattoni-May, Ed Balls and Leanne Norton, head of sixth form at Ashville College.

Leanne Norton, assistant head of sixth form at Ashville College, said:

“He showed a real interest in our learning support department and how the team helps pupils like Thomas throughout their school life, and prepares them for the next stage in their careers, be it further education or into the workplace.

“It was also a fantastic opportunity for our pupils, plus those from St Aidan’s and All Saints, to hear from a former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer about his own personal experiences. In the audience were our own Year 11s who have opted to study our brand new government and politics A Level in the 2022-23 academic year, so this was a great insight into what a life in government can be like from someone who has experienced it first-hand.”

Thomas Grattoni-May said:

“I am incredibly grateful to Mr Balls for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit Ashville and to help promote Action for Stammering Children. He is a superb advocate for the charity, and it was fabulous having him here.”

Model railway exhibition pulls in to Harrogate tomorrow

A model railway exhibition is arriving in Harrogate tomorrow, with the organisers hoping it will encourage more people to take up the hobby.

Harrogate Model Railway Group holds meetings twice a week at St Aidan’s Church of England High School for rail enthusiasts to share ideas and modelling tips.

Clem Dye, one of about 20 members, said he expected as many as 500 people to attend tomorrow’s exhibition, depending on weather conditions. It will be the group’s first since covid.

As well as model railways created by members, there will be additional exhibitors there including Wenselydale Railway and Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.

Visitors will also have the chance to browse a number of trade stands.

Mr Dye said:

“We have a number of exhibitors, who model in different gauges, be that ’009’, ’N’, ‘OO’ or ‘O’. There should be something for everyone at the show.

“Just because you might model in one particular gauge it doesn’t stop you appreciating a layout in a gauge that you’re not familiar with. People come and see the exhibits to gather ideas and inspiration for their own layouts. I’m looking forward to checking them out too.”

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He added he hoped events like this, and a further exhibition planned for August, will open the hobby up to more people.

Tomorrow’s event takes place from 10am to 4pm. Tickets are £5 for adults, £2 for children and £10 for a family.

To join the group or find out more, click here.

St Aidan’s Chamber Choir marks 30 years with Ripon Cathedral concert

A concert will take place at Ripon Cathedral in April to mark the 30th anniversary of St Aidan’s Chamber Choir.

Ex-members of the choir, including Cathy Roberts, former director of music at St Aidan’s, who founded the choir in 1992, and Greg Beardsell, a founder member of the choir and now a professional conductor and TV presenter, have agreed to attend.

The concert, on April 2, will bring together all three of the school choirs, the symphony orchestra and a ‘choir of choirs’ made up of former members.

St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate has about 2,000 students. Its chamber choir is one of its best loved and prestigious musical ensembles.

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The school said in a statement:

“We would like to invite the wider St Aidan’s community to participate as singers or players in the community chorus and orchestra for some massed items, including Haydn’s The Heavens are Telling.

The event is open to all parents, carers, staff, students and anyone else with a St Aidan’s connection.

To be part of the event, or for further details, email music@staidans.co.uk with the subject CC30.

Inquest to explore how Harrogate boy, 16, died in adult homeless hostel

An inquest will investigate how a 16-year-old Harrogate schoolboy, who was exploited by county lines drug dealers and struggled with mental health issues, died in a homeless hostel for adults.

Benjamin Nelson-Roux, a student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8 2020. His body was found by his mother, Kate.

The North Yorkshire Coroner’s Office held a second pre-inquest review in Northallerton today to review the evidence ahead of a full inquest.

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Jon Heath, senior coroner for North Yorkshire, listened to submissions from lawyers acting on behalf of the family as well as the various agencies involved in the case. Mr Heath said:

“In the full inquest I must consider the risk to Benjamin and the responsibility Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council had for him.

“He was placed in this hostel because it was staffed 24 hours a day. The hostel is for adults. Benjamin was 16-years-old. He was deemed to be ‘at significant risk of death’ just two days before he died.”

Mr Heath revealed that he would call 23 witnesses at the full inquest, which is due to be heard over 12 days on a date to be determined before July.

St Aidan’s ‘inadequate’ rating prompts debate over its handling of bullying

The release of Ofsted‘s report giving St Aidan’s an ‘inadequate’ rating prompted heavy debate on social media with some agreeing the school needed to improve and others defending it.

The inspection led the Harrogate high school to drop from ‘outstanding’, which it received at its previous inspection in 2006, to the lowest of four possible ratings.

Parents, locals and former students took to social media to give their views on the report’s findings.

Claims bullying wasn’t dealt with proactively 

One comment that was raised by multiple people was bullying at the school, some claimed it often wasn’t dealt with effectively.

One former student, Caitlin Nicole Chang, attended the school between 2004-2011 and said:

“Whilst I am saddened to learn St Aiden’s has been rated inadequate, I was not surprised that the school was let down by its safeguarding measures.

“I was severely bullied and racially abused by one girl whilst at St Aiden’s. When I reported this to the head of year, she got banned from our form room, however the school continued to put me in the same classes as her for a large majority of my subjects. Where was the safeguarding there? Unfortunately, the bullying did not stop, I called her a racist. The head of year said “you can’t just go around accusing people of racism”. Here I was, a young girl, crying for being racially abused, and getting told off for calling the girl who was racist towards me, a racist. I believe if I went to the headteacher, something would have been done.”

This was echoed by another former student, Max Prudames, he said:

“I’m not surprised by St Aidans Ofsted report. Many of my friends and I dealt with bullying during our entire time there and nothing was done about it. It also felt like since many of the bullies took part in representing the school in sports, nothing was done against them since it was ruin the schools image.”

In the report, released yesterday, Ofsted said all pupils inspectors spoke to said bullying was dealt with but on a survey some parents and pupils disagreed.

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A “fantastic school”

However, not all people agreed with the ‘inadequate’ rating. Josephine Mary said the rating would not stop her sending her child to school there:

“The school is a calm, safe and supportive place. They have great support for those with extra needs and have massively supported deaf children in the past. I believe that as Ofsted haven’t been for many years nearly 15 years that the school has had not as much practice in keeping up with records and with the Ofsted requirements.”

Mo Burn agreed adding her granddaughter was enjoying her time at St Aidans:

“My granddaughter has been doing her A-Levels at this school and I think it is a fantastic school. Every school has its faults and problems. She has had fantastic results and the support, care and understanding she has had from her teachers was first class.”

St Aidan’s school in Harrogate rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted

St Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate has been rated inadequate by Ofsted in a report released to parents today.

The report is highly critical of the school’s leadership and management and says pupils are “at risk of harm”.

It says “leaders, including governors and trustees, have an overgenerous view of the school’s performance” and “because of this, governors and trustees have not held leaders effectively to account for the impact of their work”.

These concerns prompted government inspectors to give the school the lowest of four possible ratings in its first assessment since the school became an academy under the Yorkshire Causeway Schools Trust in 2012.

St Aidan’s was rated ‘outstanding’ at its last inspection in 2006.

Chris Ives, acting headteacher, said he “strongly refutes” the inadequate judgment but added the school “will work to fully explore potential improvements” and has “put into place additional external assurance for the areas where inspectors raised serious concerns”.

‘Good’ in most areas

St Aidan’s was rated ‘good’ in four of the five areas assessed during September’s two-day visit. They were: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and sixth form provision.

But its ‘inadequate’ grading for leadership and management meant it automatically achieved the same overall outcome.

The report says:

“Leaders have not put effective arrangements in place to safeguard pupils. Some staff do not understand the range of safeguarding risks that pupils may face, or their responsibilities to take action to protect pupils.

“Leaders have not taken timely action when pupils are vulnerable to harm. The school’s curriculum does not support pupils to develop an appropriate understanding of the safeguarding risks they may face beyond the school.

“These shortcomings in the safeguarding culture at St Aidan’s put pupils at risk of harm.”

The report, which will be put on Ofsted’s website this week, added that inspectors “identified gaps in the recruitment checks made on staff”.

It said “a few parents and some pupils who responded to Ofsted’s surveys do not feel that bullying is managed well”.

And it also said “leaders do not undertake appropriate checks on sixth-form work experience providers to ensure their suitability for students” or “consistently follow statutory guidance when there are incidents of peer-on-peer abuse”.

The school’s response

Chris Ives, acting headteacher, said the trust and the school knew it would be a “challenging inspection” because it was so long since the last one and Ofsted had recently recalibrated its outstanding gradings.

“That being said, the inspectors praised many aspects of school life, including the superb behaviour of pupils, the staff expertise, the overall quality of education and the wonderful opportunities available to all our pupils. Thank you and well done to all in our brilliant St Aidan’s community.

“The team of inspectors, however, felt that St Aidan’s approach to safeguarding was, in some areas, not consistently in line with best practice.

“Although leaders provided the inspection team with evidence in support of the school’s procedures and processes and were able to demonstrate that those measures were effective, the inspection team was not satisfied and drew the conclusion that St. Aidan’s pupils might be at an increased risk.

“Whilst we all strongly refute the inadequate judgement, we cannot ignore the concerns that have been raised. As always, we will work to fully explore potential improvements and we always implement advice that will help us continue to provide care that is of the highest level.

“The trust and school leaders have also put into place additional external assurance for the areas where inspectors raised serious concerns.

“The overall grade is deeply disappointing, and one that we are saddened by. What we find most difficult is that our students were a credit to themselves and our community throughout the whole process. Our staff shone in their classrooms, and our parents and carers couldn’t have done more to support the school.

“We genuinely feel that St Aidan’s is a blessing to be part of – which is why the overall grade sits at such odds with everything we experience on a day-to-day basis. We will, of course, respond fully to the report and build on all our strengths with pace and purpose so that the next Ofsted inspection fully reflects all that we believe is true about St Aidan’s.”

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Praise for teachers

More than 300 parents and carers shared their views of the school with the inspectors as part of the inspection. 98% said their child was happy, 96% said they would recommend the school to others and 99% said their child felt safe at St. Aidan’s.

Ofsted highlighted the positive relationships between pupils and staff, the high expectations for pupils’ academic achievements as well as the calm and purposeful atmosphere around the school. It also praised teachers’ “strong subject knowledge” and passion for their subjects.

Jo Wicks, chair of governors, said:

“It would be fair to say that the overall outcome of our inspection is highly unusual, and fills us with a mixture of pride, bitter disappointment and exasperation in equal measures.

“This is not the judgement we were expecting. We simply do not think it is right to spend significant time and effort on what would be an expensive legal process, and think it is important that the community see the report as soon as we have been permitted to publish it.”

This grading means the school will be subject to more frequent Ofsted visits and will have to publish an action plan detailing how it will respond to the concerns.

The school, which caters for students aged 11 to 18, has about 2,000 pupils in the high school and sixth form.

Ofsted ratings for high schools elsewhere in the district

Jam session at Blues Bar tonight in memory of Aaron Bertenshaw

A jam session is being held at the Blues Bar in Harrogate tonight in memory of singer-songwriter Aaron Bertenshaw.

Aaron, a former pupil at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died aged 26 this month. He had struggled with diabetes and mental health issues.

He was a popular fixture on the local gig scene and performed regularly at the Blues Bar.

Tonight’s event, which will begin at about 8pm, will be hosted by Martin Rose.

Entrance is free but there will be a collection for diabetes and mental health.

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The Aaron Joseph Memorial Fund, set up by Aaron’s mother Sammy Oates, has so far raised almost £6,000.

Money raised will be used to provide mental health support to people with diabetes. Mental health and diabetes are usually treated separately and Sammy believes Aaron would have benefited from help that better understood the link between the two illnesses.

You can donate here.

Ripon girl’s suicide not linked to acne drug, inquest concludes

A coroner has concluded that the suicide of a “bright and happy” girl was not linked to the acne drug she had been taking before her death.

Annabel Wright, 15, was found dead in her room by her parents on the evening of May 1, 2019.

Harrogate District Hospital had prescribed Annabel, who lived near Ripon and attended Harrogate’s St Aidan’s Church of England High School, Roaccutane, also known as isotretinoin, to treat her acne.

The conclusion, which was read out today at an inquest in Northallerton, was difficult for her heartbroken parents Helen and Simon Wright to hear.

Jonathan Leach, assistant coroner for North Yorkshire, said:

“There was no evidence that her mind was disturbed. If it was, there is no evidence that this was caused or contributed to by Roaccutane.

“It is clear to me that Annabel took her own life. I offer my thanks to the witnesses and condolences to the family.”

Simon and Helen Wright read out a statement after today’s hearing.

After the hearing Ms Wright, flagged on her right by Mr Wright, said:

“The evidence provided during this inquest has shown that our normal, happy, well-adjusted child took her own life, suddenly, without warning and without any mitigating circumstances other than she was taking a drug which can cause suicide.

“Despite this the coroner has not seen fit to implicate this drug in her death. We are disappointed but sadly not surprised by the verdict delivered here today.

“Annabel was let down by Harrogate District Hospital when they prescribed her a drug she did not even need though it could cause her suicide.

“She was let down in life and she has been let down in death by the authorities steadfast refusal to recognise the role Roaccutane played in her death.

“But we, her family, friends and the people who knew her know the real truth and this will not be changed by the opinions of those who never met her, yet have the power to stand in judgement over her.

“In view of this, we, as bereaved parents, would like to take this opportunity to warn others of the dangers of Roaccutane, because often they will not hear about the true side effects, including sudden suicidal impulses from those who glibly prescribe it.

“We hope others will take heed from this tragedy and refuse to allow their children to take this toxic drug.”

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Dr Alison Layton, who started Annabel on her treatment, told the inquest that Harrogate District Hospital had carried out a review into how it deals with those under 18.

She also added that the hospital now hands out cards to those on Roaccutane with contact details for mental health services in case they are trying to conceal their feelings.

Hospital investigation

After the inquest Dr Jacqueline Andrews, executive medical director at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“We wish to offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Annabel Wright.

“Following Annabel’s tragic death, the trust commenced an investigation and our findings were shared with Annabel’s family and HM Coroner.

“We acknowledge the conclusion of HM Coroner.”

Rory Badenoch, the solicitor acting on behalf of the family, urged the coroner to send a letter to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) to make the risks of Roaccutane more clear.

The coroner said he will decide at a later date whether that would be appropriate.

Samaritans are available 365 days a year for people in need of support. You can call them free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

Hearing begins into death of Harrogate schoolboy Benjamin Nelson-Roux, 16

A pre-inquest review hearing was held yesterday into the death of a 16-year-old schoolboy from Harrogate.

Benjamin Nelson-Roux, a student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8 last year.

The North Yorkshire Coroner’s Office, which is holding the investigation, heard that Benjamin was found dead by his mother while staying at a Harrogate hostel.

Benjamin’s parents, Kate and Barry, attended yesterday’s hearing. It was revealed they had instructed their solicitor, Ciara Bartlam, of Ison Harrison, to state that mental health was a contributing factor to their son’s death alongside drug misuse.

In a letter published after their son’s death, the parents had written about how their “funny, clever, caring” son had endured a “heart breaking struggle with mental health problems which he tried to fix with substance misuse”.

The inquest will examine the multi-agency response to providing Benjamin with the right support.

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Solicitors and representative from the various agencies involved, which include North Yorkshire County Council, North Yorkshire Police, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust  will now forward written submissions to the coroner before the inquest officially opens.

Jon Heath, the lead coroner, adjourned the hearing until another pre-inquest review hearing in January.

At the next hearing, the coroner will decide if further witnesses need to be called before the inquest opens.

Academy status could lead to investment in Harrogate school, says head

In The headteacher of St John Fisher Catholic High School has said becoming an academy could help the school invest in more modern facilities.

The school, which has about 1,450 pupils aged 11 to 18, joined the Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust this week.

Steve Mort said pupils and parents would notice little immediate change but there were long-term benefits of being part of a multi-academy trust with 11 other schools that are directly funded by government rather than through North Yorkshire County Council.

He said it would make it easier to get capital investment for new buildings or refurbishments and the school would also benefit from economies of scale by sharing some back office functions with other schools in the academy.

Mr Mort said:

“The normal everyday running of the school school and children’s experiences of it should not feel that different. However, over time there are plans to develop our infrastructure.”

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The school, on Hookstone Drive, was built to accommodate 800 pupils on the site of a former convent and now has almost double that number.

Besides St John Fisher, The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust has 11 other schools, including St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and St Robert’s Catholic Primary School in Harrogate and St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Knaresborough. It plans to increase this number to 18.

‘The time is right’

Mr Mort, who joined the school last year, said St John Fisher was always destined to become an academy to fulfil the vision of Marcus Stock, the Catholic bishop of Leeds, who wants all 85 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Leeds divided into five multi-academy trusts.

The school therefore wasn’t being “forced” into the move, said Mr Mort, unlike some that become academies. He added:

“The governors feel that the school is financially stable and a new leadership team has established itself so the time is right.”

He added the associated sixth form with St Aidan’s Church of England High School would not be affected by the move.

Although St John Fisher is no longer financed or managed by the county council, it still has to report to it in certain areas, such as safeguarding and provision of funding for special needs pupils.

The trust, which is based in Menston, West Yorkshire, is named after Bishop William Gordon Wheeler, who was Bishop of Leeds from 1966 to 1985.