In her speech, Heather spoke about her time at Prince Henry’s, and her career since then, thanking her Geography studies for enabling her to navigate the world away from GPS in traditional manner. She urged students to remember the importance of resilience and embracing failure as a positive learning experience.

The prestigious Kerr Scholarship, awarded to the student with the best A Level results, was received by Jack Cumming. Lois Cameron-Young was awarded the Foundation Governors Leavers exhibition for Outstanding Performance at A Level.

The Walter Robinson Award for Top Performance at GCSE was won by Millie Spencer, who achieved Grade 9s across the board in her GCSEs. Charlie Cumming, Isabelle French, Ned Gallagher-Thompson, Lizzie MacDonald, Oscar Roden and Aphra Tandy were all rewarded for Exceptional Performance in their GCSE Examinations.

Awards are given to students for attainment and progress, but also for excelling in other areas which are also central to the ethos at the school, such as citizenship and caring for others. As well as last year’s GCSE and A Level students, students from all years are recognised for their contribution to school, progress and achievements.

The Prince Henry’s Association award for Service to Community and School was awarded to Ben Simpson for his work on sustainability and active travel, while Asher Dawrant won the Otley Rotary Club Prize for Service to Community and School.

The Watson Bainbridge Prize for Attitude to Sixth Form went to Lilly Mwila and the Kirkgate Arcade Award for Perseverance in Academic Endeavour was won by Hugo Dumont. Isobel Wilks won the Eric Pinkett Award for Contribution to Extra-Curricular Music, as well as the Dacre Son and Hartley Prize for A Level ICT.

As well as speeches from Headteacher Sally Bishop and Heather Thomas, the packed event also heard a review of the year from current Head Students Sam Petrie and Lily Rollinson.

Headteacher Sally Bishop said

 “As we look back at the last academic year at Prince Henry’s Grammar School, yet again it is clear that we continue to go from strength to strength, bringing us much to celebrate as a school as well as individual achievements.   It is incredibly difficult to select students for these awards. As a community, we are proud to promote equality and most importantly inclusion at all levels to ensure that all can flourish. There is no doubt that our vision to become internationally recognised as an exceptional school with a culture of respect, where we can all flourish and achieve is central to how we approach life at Prince Henry’s.  Our recent Ofsted Inspection graded us at outstanding in all areas and these students have certainly proved that they are outstanding in every way.”

As well as the Awards themselves, guests were treated to performances from students Grace Clayborough and Charlie Cumming.