THE head teacher of Queen Katherine School declared the past academic year to be the most successful in the school’s 30-year history when he addressed the annual awards evening.

In his speech to students, parents and teachers at the Kendal Leisure Centre Mr Wilkinson praised this year’s ‘record-breaking’ GCSE and A-level results, which had placed the school at the top of national league tables.

“Record-breaking results at A level and at GCSE have moved the school from being one of the highest achieving in the north of England to being one of the highest achieving in the country,” said Mr Wilkinson.

“The school is now easily in the top 10 per cent for achievement of sixth forms, and according to the Independ-ent newspaper, eighth in the country.”

Guest of honour, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron handed out more than 80 individual awards to students in every age group. A further 120 pupils received individual subject awards and bronze, silver and gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Notable sixth form prizes were the Governor’s Award for Academic Progress, awarded to David Maguire, and the Town Mayor’s Academic Achievement award given to Lucy Forsyth.

Mr Wilkinson also used his speech to celebrate learning outside of the classroom and highlighted three of the past year’s ‘eventful’ school trips which had given students real life experience.

Mentioning the Normandy visit, which was cut short by bird flu, the Iceland trip affected by the ash cloud and flooding experienced by sixth formers in Ladakh, northern India, he said the opportunities were important for students and praised staff for responding so well to unexpected challenges.

The evening ended with a final tribute to Liz James, former Head of English, who died at the end of last year and he thanked all who had celebrated her life and made lasting tributes to such a ‘memorable colleague’.

In Year 11 the head teacher’s award went to Eve Dixon, The Emmott Award for Progress to Laura McQuillan and the Yorkshire Bank Award for Academic Achievement was awarded to Frances Butcher. Sports achievement awards went to Darren Braithwaite and Sarah Burrow.

Awards Evening

Award for: High standard of work; sustained effort; involvement in community activities. Year 7: Anthony Barnes; Mia Bellouere; Jasmyn Boden; Lizzie Briggs; Isabelle Carradus; Abby Counsell; Katie Dixon; Emily Doherty; George Fearnyough; Christopher Harper; Sam Highley; Daniel Hill; Beatrice Hooson; Emily Humble; Oliver Jackson; Casey Knowles; Bethany Latham; Mary O’Reilly; Caroline Rozenzweig; Emilia Salehi; Cameron Shaw; Thomas Wharton; Joseph Wiseman; Charlotte Young Andrade. Year 8: Robert Atkinson; Robyn Baines; Bethea Baskerville-Muscutt; Cameron Bell; Bethany Bell; Harry Brooks; Ila Colley; Mark Curran; Emily Dalzell; Jane Day; Rory Douglas; Beth Driscoll; Soren Greasley; Hannah McLellan; Rob Naylor; Jenny O’Reilly; Niamh Parker-Whitehead; Edward Prince; Ailsa Richardson; Naomi Sanderson; Ella Scott; Callum Simpson; Julie-Ann Strickland; Tabitha Topping; Robert Whyte. Year 9: William Atkinson; Keziah Baskerville-Muscutt; Rowan Boardley; Daniel Brown; Rachel Camp; Kiran Caudrey-Joshi; Adam Cheer; Lotte Cowan; Melissa Davis; Laura Day; Zarah Dixon; Kate Fearnyough; Kelly Greenbank; Laurie Hill; Isobel Laidler; Charlie Maguire; Curtis Medley; Mary Ormerod; Henry Pearce; Eleanor Rawsthorne; Sam Roper; Cameron Scott; Bradley Thompson; Nick Watton; Joseph Webb; Matthew Wightman. Year 10: Molly Atkinson; Antony Atkinson; Scott Bryers; Mari Cole; Daisy Coupe; Rowan Driscoll; Alex Hart; Georgia Hevey; Sean Jackson; Charlotte Knowles; Clover Knowles; Harrison Lannin; Lawrence Lee; Nikki McRae; Georgia Murray; Bethanie Murray; Wojciech Pawlik; Daniel Rainbow; Ewan Richardson; Megan Sullivan; Lauren Tate; Elliot Telford; Steven Tremeer; Rebecca Watson; Jack Wilson; Jo Young. Year 11: Lewis Alderson; Shannon Barnes; Peter Bell; Dominic Blakey; Matthew Bland; Adam Bowers; Lauren Bowness; Jasmine Box; Gemma Burns; Bethany Crosby; Molly Greasley; Charlotte Harrison; Keeley Howson; Abbey Hunt; Alice McLoughlin; Eleanor Moore; Lauren Nicholson; Lucy Reynolds; Kieran Reynolds; Shawn Stewart; Jake Twiselton; Luke Waine; Francesca Ward; Emily Whitelock; Rachael Wild. Special Awards. Outhwaite Award, progress in lower school mathematics: Hannah Arnold. Contribution to sport. Lower school: Girl, Lucy Downham; boy, Ben Hughes. Upper school: Girl, Jade Stanworth; boy, Benjamin Butcher. QKSA sports achievement. Lower school: Girl, Kelly Greenbank; boy, Jack Blakeney-Edwards. Upper school: Girl, Sarah Burrow; boy, Darren Braithwaite. Upper school awards. Headteachers’: Eve Dixon. ‘Just Sew’ Textiles: Helena Shorrock. Liz James Award, outstanding progress in English: Tim Kieser. QKSA, technology: Ellie Voke. Chris Freeman ICT Award: Frances Butcher. Emmott Award, progress & commitment to work, Y11: Laura McQuillan. Dr Reynolds Award, progress & commitment to work, Y11: Izzy Harris. Yorkshire Bank Award, academic achievement, Y11: Frances Butcher. Full attendance: Frances Butcher; Alex Maine. Work related learning: Rosie Rickerby. Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Bronze. Year 10: Thomas Arnold; Zoe Barrett; Ruth Bell; Mari Cole; Lucy Gray; Ben Grenville-Evans; Charlotte Knowles; Bethanie Murray; Daniel Rainbow; Ewan Richardson; Megan Sullivan; Izaak Tyson-Hirst; Flora Wharton; Eleanor Wood. Year 11: Tilly Adcock; Joshua Betoin; Lauren Bowness; Jake Brewer; Sarah Burrow; Frances Butcher; Richard Corrie; Eve Dixon; Alastair Greenbank; Matthew Jackson; Georgia Kennedy; Ashleigh Kennedy; Ellen Kieser; Charlotte Lapping; William Lee; Keir Loudon; Joe Mills; Daisy Pearce; Kieran Reynolds; Benjamin Slater; Matthew Smith; Christopher Soulby; Jade Stanworth; James Tremeer; Thomas Winter; Alice Wood; Jack Yates. Year 12: Bradley Airey; Daniel Chaplow; Kayleigh Cheer. Silver: Hannah Wilson (Y12); Eliott Higgins (Y13). Gold (Y13): Anthony Aggidis; Jenny Woods. Year 12, AS Level Subject Awards: Art Sophie Renwick; biology Danny Bell; business studies Josh McLeod; chemistry Blue Coupe; dance Emma Lifshitz; design & technology Ben Stuart; economics Ben Arnold; English language Lorna Bell; English literature Marcus Loney-Evans; French Elliot Jacobs; geography Eleni Wood; German Hannah Plant; history Deborah Sarginson; IT Simon Harrison; mathematics Caroline Robinson; physics Perry Toyn; physical education Emma Robinson; psychology Jennifer Barrett; religious studies Rosanna Hutchings; sociology James Coward; theatre studies Kayleigh Fairhurst; Young Enterprise Adam Simpson; contribution to school drama Jade Stein; contribution to school musical production Rosie Barber. Kay Larsson Award, contribution to music: Jonathan Vince. Sylvia Cockett Contribution to Strings Cup: Daniel Crompton. Year 13, A Level Subject Awards: Art Kathryn Loudon; biology Felicity Powell; business studies Lauren Downham; chemistry Emma Matthews; design & technology Nathanael Hunt; economics Hannah Paterson; English language Molly Twiselton; English literature Eloise Smith Foster; geography Megan Atkinson; history Ali Sadek; IT Emma Simpson; mathematics Rowan Wheatman; physics Jenny Woods; physical education Liz Thexton; psychology Alex Beech; religious studies Ruby Neale; sociology Ellen Funning; theatre studies Lauren Pearson; contribution to school art: Morag Fallows. Manduell Award, music: Josh Coleman. Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon Award, technology: Liam Moffatt. Gerrard Award, economics: Anna Gregg. K Shoes (any category): Nina Caine. NatWest Bank Award, business: Faye Longridge. QKSA, science: Jake Wilkinson. Richard Robinson History Award: Rory Sewell. Governor’s Award, academic progress, 6th form: David Maguire. Town Mayor’s Academic Achievement Award: Lucy Forsyth. Town Council Award, 6th form humanities: Anna Gregg. Midland (HSBC) Award, music: Joe Peace. Provincial Axa Award, service to the community: Roz Townley. Hayton Trophy, contribution to music: Matthew Coleman. Barclays Bank Award, languages: Lucy Forsyth. Dwyer Cup, mathematics: Mark Phillips. SLDC Chairman’s Cup, German: Beckie Palfreyman. Stuart Green Award, craftsmanship: David Kelly. Senior students: Sammy Arthur; Katie Holland; Rowan Wheatman.