Cross Hills school

He retired last summer after 37 years and, as head of lower school, oversaw the transition from primary school of over 17 year groups, comprising nearly 5,000 children. In this role, he liaised closely with primary head teachers including his wife, Val, who was head of Glusburn Primary School until her retirement in the summer.

Mr and Mrs Ashdown presented the certificates to GCSE candidates and took the theme of “Change” for their address.

Earlier, the event had opened with excerpts from the school show “A Night in the West End”, together with two further student presentations.

Saxophonist Ben Dunn, who is studying A-level music and was presented with the Creative Arts Prize, played “Monody” by Jeffrey Wilson, and Laura Sharples reprised the routine she performed on the television show “The Speaker”. Laura’s success and that of another student, Luke Bayer, on the “X Factor”, provided head teacher Dr Andrew Cummings with the inspiration for his address, which used TV themes (played by Ben) to introduce some of the school’s achievements.

The first of these was “Champion the Wonder Horse” to celebrate the school’s outstanding examination results with 97 per cent of students in year 11 gaining five A* to C grades and 36.6 per cent of A-level grades at A and B. In terms of progress, the school’s results are in the top three in North Yorkshire.

The “Blue Peter” theme introduced travel, with school trips to Spain, France, Germany and the USA, and a teacher exchange to Sri Lanka. The school had also hosted teachers from Sri Lanka and the Yorkshire School which was built by the Yorkshire Rotary Society. “Blue Peter” also introduced the school’s specialism, Technology and Engineering, where the opening of the new £1.6 million eTaSC (Engineering, Technology and Skills Centre) was celebrated.

Dr Cummings paid tribute to the staff, whose hard work underpinned the success of the school’s students.