A CELEBRATION of doing ‘little things consistently well’ was one of the themes at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School’s awards presentation.

Headteacher Ruth Houston reminded current students of the inaugural message to the Old Girls’ Association in 1913.

“A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing”, she recalled. “And I would just like to take this opportunity to celebrate the achievements of those who have consistently done their best in ‘little things’ because that will lead to great achievements.

“It’s the little things of consistently doing your best, politeness, thoughtfulness and good manners that make this school a happy and thriving community.”

Mrs Houston also asked students to listen out for lyrics in This is The Moment, from the musical Jekyll and Hyde, sung at the presentation by Jake Bell.

“Destiny beckoned, I never reckoned on, second best,” she said. “I would just encourage every one of us not to settle for ‘second best’ but to be inspired by the achievements of so many students here.”

The ceremony also paid tribute to the 100 per cent pass rate for A Level pupils; with 82 per cent of A2 exams passed at a grade C or above. Every Year 13 who applied to university gained a place of their choice and pupils also visited South Africa, took part in a Czech exchange and a Spanish trip.

Mrs Houston added: “There have been many exciting activities throughout the year such as the Design and Technology and Art open evening, Christmas and summer concerts, Year 11 and sixth form proms, the continuing development of sports, music and language leaders within the school and the fabulous performances that were Bloody Bones production of Footloose.”

She also celebrated the school’s sporting achievements.

These included the U13 boys finishing runners-up in the North West England mini hockey championship, the U14 girls qualifying for the North West hockey finals and the dance club performing in the Brewery Arts Dance Festival.

“As you can see from this small snapshot, Kirkby Stephen Grammar School has many talented and hard working students of whom we are very proud and delighted to celebrate with you their achievements this afternoon,” she said.