Skipton Girls’ High School’s prizegiving ceremony was a record celebration this year with more leavers than ever before returning to celebrate their impressive A level achievements during their time at the Gargrave Road school.

Gordon Routleledge, was this year’s honoured guest and after presenting the trophies and certificates he addressed the audience of students and their families about how he had turned a passion for engineering and technology in to three successful businesses in the worlds of lighting, technology and media.

Mr Routledge, who graduated in 1996 from the University of Manchester with a degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, went on to become an inventor or co-inventor on 11 granted patents. He is also a director of LEDIL Oy - a technology company based in Finland. He has also led a number of inward investment missions to Japan and China on behalf of the government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Howard Cutler, the school’s chairman of governors, congratulated all the students on their ‘exceptional achievements’ and praised the class of 2017. He also went on to say how impressed he always was by the variety and amount of extra-curricular activity the students continue to take on, in addition to a very demanding academic workload.

“Much of this is voluntary and is charity work in the community carried out quietly, without fuss and not for recognition and I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the students for all that they do in this respect as working and contributing members of the communities in which they live,” said Mr Cutler.

Headteacher, Jenn Plews said how ‘immensely proud she was of the whole school community’ She described how in 2017 the Year 13 students achieved the best progress and exam results the school had ever seen - a tremendous achievement. She also praised her team of confident and talented teachers and staff, their innovative practice in the classroom and the way they consistently united and supported the running of the school. It was, she said, that ‘what made the school highly unique and marked it out as a grammar school ‘with a difference’. Many Skipton Girls’ High school staff were heavily involved in educational system leadership, she said, and held a strong moral imperative that, as an Outstanding school with such high achievement, they should work to support other schools across the North of England.

More photographs taken during the evening event can be found on the school website: sghs.org.uk