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Ackworth School tennis coach named Yorkshire Tennis Coach of the Year

Feb 13, 2020 | Sport

It’s game, set and match for our very own tennis coach Alice Robson as she is named as Tennis Coach of the Year for Yorkshire.

The prestigious award is in recognition of Alice’s hard work in turning around Ackworth Tennis Club, while introducing more of the local community to tennis in an inclusive and welcoming way.

Since becoming Head Coach 18 months ago, LTA accredited Alice has helped to transform Ackworth Tennis Club, playing a major role in increasing its membership from just 17 members to 130 members today, with the club bringing in new programmes to develop and encourage more tennis players.

Now over 100 children and 30 adults regularly playing tennis at the club, with a further 2,000 school children at 17 local primary schools being introduced to tennis through Alice’s work with the community, which also includes organising open days and supporting fellow coaches.

Alice’s down to earth coaching skills and strong leadership has brought together Ackworth School, Yorkshire Tennis, The Tim Henman Foundation and the social mobility network BECSLink, to make tennis accessible, safe and enjoyable for all.

The whole school is very proud of Alice, says Anton Maree, Head of Ackworth School.

“Alice brings great dedication, inclusiveness and innovation to coaching all our students, so it comes as no surprise these skills have now been recognised, she thoroughly deserves the title of coach of the year”.

Alice concluded; “There have been so many fantastic coaches who have won this award in the past, so it’s a massive honour to receive this. It’s such a pleasure working at Ackworth School and Ackworth Tennis Club, and it’s a joy seeing tennis being played at our school and the local area, helping to create a strong community of sport lovers, young and old”.

Well done Alice. We look forward to seeing tennis continue to go from strength to strength at our school and in the region.

Ackworth School Represented in Maths Challenge Final

Feb 4, 2020 | Ackworth School

Having taken top spot in the regional championships in November, Ackworth’s maths team were poised to take on 87 of the country’s best in London.

Taylor and her three team mates, Oliver, Aldrich and Jamie – Ackworth’s sharpest mathematicians – were prepared to take on some the best school teams the country had to offer. Today, alongside Ackworth, sat a further 87 teams, all of who had found some sort of success in a regional championship, a grand total of 1,200 teams entered and these proved to be the cream of the crop.

A long and tiring day saw Ackworth place 44th, no small feat considering the large number of teams originally involved.

Taylor says the team thoroughly enjoyed the experience, immersing themselves in the spirit of competition and being surrounding by like-minded individuals – as well as exploring the many tourism opportunities London has to offer. She also commended the team spirit and set her sights on next year.

“[It] was a marvellous reward our hard-working effort and especially our close-knit solidarity throughout the competition. All in all we had an unforgettable experience today and will try to get a better place in next year’s competition”.

A record year for GCSE results at Ackworth School

Aug 22, 2019 | Ackworth School, Senior School

The Head of Ackworth School, Anton Maree, said he is very proud of their GCSE pupils as the school recorded its best-ever number of top grades.

This year, Ackworth School’s GCSE pupils scored more 8-9 grades, with 94.7% A*-C grades, compared to 2018. More than half of our pupils achieved grades 9-7 (51.6%).

71.3% of pupils achieved 9-6 grades (A*-B).

Click here to see our full results.

There were outstanding performances from Eleanor Morris, who achieved nine grade 9s and one grade 8; Harry Dean, with eight grade 9s and two grade 8s; and Joshua Dawson, with eight grade 9s, one grade 8 and one grade 7.

“This excellent result is in spite of the tightening of grade boundaries, particularly at the top end where 9s are very hard to achieve,” said Anton Maree.

“Many of our pupils have secured top grades, and all of them have been stretched and challenged very successfully at our school.”

94% per of pupils who received their A-Level results last week had secured their choice of university, with many going to The Russell Group, which represents the 24 leading universities in the UK.

Anton Maree said that Ackworth School had pupils from all over the world and he was delighted that so many of them had improved upon their predicted grades.

“Our teachers stretch and challenge all according to their ability, and what matters most is that pupils achieve what they are capable of. So many have done that today and embark upon their Sixth Form courses with the confidence to achieve what they have set out to accomplish.”

Ackworth School enters all of its pupils as internal candidates, contrary to claims that independent schools make weaker students take exams as ‘external candidates’ to protect their league table standings.

Ackworth School is not a selective school, and we are proud of our ability to add value to our pupils’ performances.

Congratulations to all our GCSE pupils on your results!

Consistent Results for A-Levels at Ackworth School

Aug 15, 2019 | Ackworth School, Senior School

The overall pass rate for Ackworth School A-Level pupils was 95% and we are very proud of our leavers as they look to a bright future. Our pupils have good reason to celebrate today having achieved a good set of results in the 2019 A-Level exams. 15% of pupils received A*-A grades and 43% A*-B grades.

95% of our pupils achieved an overall pass rate and results were particularly strong in the Sciences again with a pass rate of 96% and in Art and PE where every pupil achieved A*-B.

Click here to see the full results.

Several of our pupils did very well, achieving A*s and As, Roy He achieved one A* and two As and Olivia Howden achieved three As, but we are also proud of those pupils who had to work very hard to achieve a pass.

Commenting on the results, Anton Maree, Head of Ackworth School said: “These results reflect the hard work and commitment of our pupils, parents and staff who have supported them. Ackworth has never been a selective school but our results are consistent. We encourage all of our pupils, who come from many different backgrounds, and several different countries to do their best in everything they set out to achieve.”

94% per of pupils who received their A-Level results last week had secured their choice of university, with many going to The Russell Group which represents the 24 leading universities in the UK.

Some of the leaver University destinations include University of Edinburgh, University College London, University of Leeds and the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

‘My Boarding Experience’ Viren, School leaver July 2019

Jul 5, 2019 | Ackworth School

Viren (centre) pictured with Michelle, Matron of Boys’ School House, and other Ackworth School pupils.

I started my boarding experience at Ackworth in September of 2018. I joined the school because it was the first year of the football academy and it was something that really appealed to me.

I met Michelle Walker (a.k.a. Matron) on my first day and after that encounter I knew that the boarding experience at Ackworth would be perfect for me. She was very kind and welcoming and made me feel like I belonged in the boarding house. She was always there in the morning if I needed her and was always there after school as well to make us cheese toasties and other amazing snacks to ensure that we were always well fed.

She was like a mother figure to me at school. Throughout the months I spent here, I made lots of good friends through football and through school as well. These are people that have been there for me through my ups and downs and are friends that I’ll keep for life. I’ll miss them a lot and everyone at Ackworth will always have a special place in my heart.