THE outstanding GCSE results of St Mary’s, Menston were celebrated at the annual GCSE Presentation Evening.

During the summer, students of all abilities achieved their aspirational targets, with 91 per cent making three levels of progress in English and more than 80 per cent achieving the equivalent progress in maths. Seventy-eight per cent of students achieved the new Government measure of achieving A*-C including English and maths, with 75 per cent of these achieving five A*-C including English and maths.

Guest of honour on the evening was Sir Chris Verity, Chief Executive Officer of Welcome to Yorkshire. Sir Gary talked about aspiration, overcoming challenges and the qualities required to achieve success.

The evening was one of celebration where the community shared in the outstanding achievement of St Mary’s students. Erin’s Gift for outstanding progress in Design and Technology was presented to George Sanderson by Mr and Mrs Crotty, parents of Erin, a St Mary’s student who sadly died in 2011

Headteacher, Mr Darren Beardsley said: “We were delighted with the outcomes for our GCSE students in the summer and the presentation evening gave us another opportunity to celebrate their achievements. It was fantastic to see so many students and their families attend to collect their GCSE certificates as well as other prizes awarded during the evening. We really appreciated the time provided by Sir Gary Verity and for the message he gave to the students where he talked about aspiration, overcoming challenges and the qualities required to achieve success.

"During the evening we also emphasised the importance of partnership between home and school and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all families, as well as staff, for the support that they give to students in school.”

Individual prize winners were: Art, Madeline Smith; Drama, Aelis Bray; English Language, Molly Cheetham; English Literature, Thomas Johns; Food Technology, Michal Jaloweic; French, Ruth Stone; Geography, Caitlin Baran; German, Lorna Gilroy-Turner; Health and Social, Evie McInness; History Jake Marshall; ICT, Emily Newell; Mathematics, Jamie Hoar; Media Studies, Anthony Beckwith; Music, Jessica Wilson; PE, Pauline Hall; Performing Arts, Natasha Cooper; Product Design, Ewan Copsey; Religious Education, Kristiana Barzanov; Science, Patrick Crotty; Separate Sciences, Sophie Graham; Sports Studies, Sean Benn; Textiles, Sophia Andryszewski.

Special prizes were also awarded:

Sports College of Excellence Award: Laurence Patterson

Michelle Stott Memorial Award for PE: Emily Hazlegreaves

Highest Points Score at GCSE: Samuel Brownjohn

Highest Average Points Score at GCSE: Phoebe Kendal

Greatest Progress from KS3 to GCSE: Uditha Dissanayaka

Rotary Club Community Award: Emily Boswell

Martin Green Memorial Award for Excellence in Rugby: Christopher Jackson

Erin’s Gift: George Sanderson

The Sue Hope Award for ‘Living Out the Word': Oliver Morris

Attendance Shield: More

Conduct Cup: Gwyn

Music on the evening was provided by Rosie Egan, Oliver Horan, Anthony Beckwith.