Thanks again to Miss Jeans for this report: 

“On the day after the Area Trials, a group of 15 students from Years 9 and 10 travelled to York to take part in the York Track and Field Cup athletics event. Despite being a relatively small team, the experience proved to be an outstanding success both competitively and in terms of personal development. 

At the start of the day, many of our students were understandably apprehensive. Having competed the day before, they were already feeling fatigued, and the sight of significantly larger squads from other schools added to their nerves. However, these initial concerns quickly gave way to determination and resilience. 

As the event progressed, our students rose to the challenge admirably. Many exceeded their own expectations, delivering performances that reflected both their ability and their commitment. It was particularly pleasing to see students surprise themselves with what they were capable of achieving, demonstrating real growth in confidence as the day went on. Overall, performances were incredibly strong across the group. 

One of the most impressive aspects of the trip was the conduct and attitude of the students throughout. All students represented the school exceptionally well, behaving responsibly and showing respect at all times. Equally notable was the positive and supportive environment they created among themselves. Students worked collaboratively during warm-ups, shared advice and encouragement, and consistently supported one another during events. This strong sense of teamwork contributed significantly to the overall experience and success of the day. 

In summary, the trip was an incredibly rewarding experience for all involved. The students not only performed well but also demonstrated excellent character, resilience and team spirit. They should be very proud of their efforts and the way they represented the school. Results are posted below. 

Inter Boys Results 

1500m Aiden Johnson (4.43) 2nd, Wilf Lamb, (4.45) 6th, Dylan Hall (4.54) 10th 

100m: Jake Murrell (12.30) 1st in heat, 2nd overall 

200m: Nathan Collier (26.00) 3rd in heat, 4th overall, Charlie Downes (26.20) 2nd in heat, 6th overall 

300m: Olly Middlemiss (39.80) 2nd in heat, 2nd overall 

800m: Josh Gaskell (2.26.30) 4th in heat, 5th overall, Kai Moorfoot (2.27.80) 5th in heat, 6th overall 

Relay: Josh, Charlie, Nathan, Jake (51.40) 2nd in heat, 2nd overall 

Long Jump: Olly Middlemiss (5.00m) 3rd 

High Jump: Josh Gaskell (1.47m) 5th 

Javelin: Nathan Collier (19m) 11th 

Triple Jump: Wilf Lamb (9.65m) 9th  

Inter girls results: 

80m hurdles: Connie Wilford (14.00) 1st in heat, 3rd overall 

100m: Mathilda Townend (14.50) 1st in heat, 3rd overall 

200m: Tegan Smith (29.40) 2nd in heat, 4th overall, Freya Atkinson (30.20) 1st in heat, 5th overall 

300m: Tallulah Whent (57.20) 7th 

800m: Connie Briggs (2.51.90) 4th in heat, 4th overall 

Relay: Mathilda, Freya, Tegan, Connie W (56.20s) 1st in heat, 1st overall 

Javelin: Tallulah Whent (14.83m) 11th 

Long Jump: Mathilda Townend (4.17m) 3rd, Freya Atkinson (3.80m) 13th   

Thanks to Miss Jeans for the following report: 

“A group of 25 students travelled to Middlesbrough Sports Village to compete in the recent Area Athletics Trials, with the opportunity to qualify for the North Yorkshire Team and compete at York in the North Yorkshire Schools County Athletics Championships. 

Throughout the day, our students demonstrated the very best of our school values. Their resilience and determination were evident in every event, as they competed with focus and commitment against strong opposition. Equally impressive was the sense of teamwork displayed, with students consistently supporting one another, offering encouragement, and celebrating each other’s performances. 

Many of the older students showed excellent independence and leadership by assisting with the organisation of the day. This included recording performances for GCSE assessment purposes and helping younger students navigate the venue and manage event timings. Students also took responsibility for their own preparation, ensuring they were ready for warm-ups and events at the appropriate times. 

The event was a fantastic experience for all involved, providing both competitive opportunity and personal development. Every student represented the school with pride, maturity, and excellent behaviour throughout the day. 

Overall, it was a highly successful and enjoyable event, and we look forward to seeing which students' progress to the North Yorkshire Schools County Athletics Championships in York for the next stage of the competition.” 

Special shout out to those that did qualify for the next stage: 

Charlie Downes 200m 

Olly Middlemiss 300m and Long Jump 

Mathilda Townend 100m and Long Jump 

Freya Atkinson 200m 

Tallulah Whent Javelin 

Tegan Smith 200m 

Jake Murrell 100m 

Nathan Collier 200m 

Aiden Johnson 1500m 

Josh Gaskell 800m and High Jump 

Thank you Mrs Wardle for the following report: 

“Last weekend over 80 Year 10 students took on the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition in Swaledale. With varying routes from Reeth up to the overnight camp at Rukin’s Park Lodge campsite, Keld, all students were in good spirits and looking forward to the weekend ahead.   

All students worked well within their teams demonstrating excellent teamwork as they helped split packs for those who needed to lighten the load and encouraging each other on to complete the trek to Keld. 

All made camp in good time. Their assessors watched them camp and cook, to ensure they could be self-sufficient and had made good food choices to fuel the walk back to Reeth the following day.   

On the Monday after the expedition, we received a lovely email from two walkers who met many Richmond D of E students during the day on Sunday: “I hope you don’t mind me e-mailing but I just wanted to let you know how lovely, polite and friendly all the young people were who we met walking from Keld to Reeth on Sunday. 
 
My sister and I are doing the Coast 2 Coast and met quite a few of your Duke of Edinburgh groups, both the lads and girls - they were so pleasant, despite a few of them grimacing a bit towards the end!! 
In particular, there was one young girl who ran quite a way to catch up with us who had picked up my sister’s glasses case that had dropped off her rucksack without us knowing. The case had her very expensive sunglasses in it, so she was extremely grateful to get them back - unfortunately we didn’t get her name, but we did thank her profusely - you obviously have a great set of young people at your school. Young people these get a lot of criticism, so we felt it only right to contact you to congratulate you and your youngsters.”  

What a brilliant reflection on the approach and attitude of our students during the weekend – well done to them! 

During the evening, Richmond School & Sixth Form College, Marrick Priory and the Scouts made presentations of thanks to Tony Potter, who retires this year. Under his leadership the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme has grown significantly, with over 700 students walking in the Yorkshire Dales around Richmond, in all weathers, under his care. The students were highly appreciative of his dedication and commitment and will remember their DofE time with much fondness.” 

Some time ago we posted an article about Richmond School students’ involvement in Darlington FC and Stockton Town’s success in the TJFA league. 

We recently heard more of the same, this time from Paul and Ged, coaches at Catterick Village Pumas. Thank you to them both for this report: 

“Last season, Catterick Village Pumas U14s enjoyed an outstanding campaign, going undefeated throughout the league season. The team won 15 matches and drew 1, scoring an incredible 107 goals while conceding just 24. This remarkable achievement saw the Pumas crowned TJFA Division 9 champions. 

As we look ahead to the new season, the team has joined forces with Richmond to become Richmond U15s. With this move, we expect to compete in a higher division and embrace the new challenges that come with it. 

Several players from the championship-winning Pumas squad attend Richmond School and played a vital role in securing the league title. These players are Archie King, Owain Hyatt, Gabe D’Silva, Joe-Jackson Hall, Jackson Findley, Sam Crouch, Lennon Foster, Liam Dent and Bradley Boylan. 

Their commitment, teamwork, and determination were key factors in the team’s success. 

Everyone involved is excited for the season ahead and looks forward to building on last year’s achievements as they move to Richmond Town U15s, with the aim of continuing their success at a higher level.” 

Thank you to Miss Spittlehouse for this report:  

The recent Year 12 geography field trip combined coastal, human, and river studies over two days in North Yorkshire. 

In Redcar, students investigated sand dune succession, observing how vegetation and soil development change inland from the shoreline. They also completed a “changing places” study, comparing the town centres of Redcar and Reeth to explore differences in function, identity, and economic activity between a coastal town and a rural settlement.  

Further to this, our time in Arkengarthdale was spent carrying out river investigations, measuring characteristics such as channel depth, velocity, and bedload, although conditions were challenging due to poor weather and relatively high-water levels. Despite the rain and difficult fieldwork conditions, the trip ended on a positive note, with improving weather in Redcar allowing everyone to enjoy ice creams and fish and chips by the coast, rounding off a valuable and memorable fieldwork experience. 

Thank you to the staff and students for such a superb couple of days. We look forward to the overnight stay in July.” 

Richmondshire Sports Partnership recently successfully delivered two full days of Area Cricket Finals for both boys and girls in Years 3–6. All participating teams had earned their place by winning their respective local competitions, ensuring a high standard of play throughout the event. 

The tournaments were expertly officiated by Sports Leaders from Years 8 and 9 at Richmond School, who demonstrated excellent organisation, confidence, and leadership across both days. 

Year 3/4 Girls 

The competition was played in a round robin format, with all teams competing against each other: 
1st – Bedale 
2nd – Richmond St Mary’s 
3rd – Brompton-on-Swale 
4th – Middleham and Spennithorne 
5th – Burneston 

Year 3/4 Boys 

Teams were divided into two groups, playing a round robin within their group. The top teams progressed to a final: 
1st – Brompton-on-Swale 
2nd – Reeth and Gunnerside 
Joint 3rd – Bedale, Richmond St Mary’s 
Joint 4th – Richmond Methodist School, Burneston 

Year 5/6 Girls 

The competition was played in a round robin format: 
1st – Bedale 
2nd – Richmond Methodist 
Joint 3rd – Brompton, Richmond St Mary’s 
4th – Reeth and Gunnerside 

Year 5/6 Boys 

Also played as a round robin: 
1st – Richmond Methodist School 
2nd – Bedale, Brompton, Richmond St Mary’s 
3rd – Reeth and Gunnerside 

Overall, the finals showcased excellent cricketing skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship across all age groups, providing a fantastic opportunity for pupils to compete at a high level and represent their schools with pride. 

Amber was nominated by Miss McFall who said: “Amber’s journey through school has been marked by a remarkable transformation in both attitude and achievement. In Year 7, Amber experienced a challenging start to secondary school life. However, over the past year, Amber has made a conscious and determined effort to reshape her approach, consistently striving to be the best version of herself. Even when she makes mistakes, she demonstrates maturity by responding positively to feedback and actively working to improve. This shift is clearly reflected in her achievement and Amber's AtL grades are now almost all 1s and 2s. Amber has received only 1 C all year. Despite facing several personal challenges this year, any one of which could have derailed her progress, Amber has shown admirable determination. She has engaged positively with the support offered and has overcome each obstacle, proving that her growth is both genuine and lasting. I am so proud of Amber and feel that she deserves recognition for this amazing transformation.” 

Ladies of Midnight Blue are an Afro-Latin percussion and brass duo, comprised of Hannabiell Sanders and Yilis del Carmen Suriel. Their performances combine a vibrant fusion of rhythms, blending melodic percussion, brass, vocal chants and mbira to create a rich and dynamic sound. 

With an international performance career spanning many years, they have also spent over a decade delivering workshops, residencies and collaborative projects. We were fortunate to welcome them to work with our students across a series of three workshops, running from 1:15pm to 4:45pm. Two sessions took place before half term, followed by a final workshop the day before the concert, which was part of this year’s Swaledale Festival. 

These sessions focused on jazz and blues improvisation—an area that challenged many of our students to step outside their comfort zones. As Harry (alto saxophone) memorably put it, “I only ever play using the notes. I’m not used to playing without music!” This perfectly captured the spirit of the experience: encouraging creativity, risk-taking and musical independence. 

Hannabiell and Yilis brought tremendous energy to their teaching. They created a highly inclusive environment, encouraging contributions from all students regardless of experience. Rather than directing every detail, they asked students to shape the music themselves, only guiding when needed. This gave the workshops a real sense of ownership and collaboration. 

On the day of the concert, the ensemble rehearsed from 10:00am until 3:00pm. While this may sound intensive, much of the time was devoted to staging and movement, ensuring the performance was as visually engaging as it was musically compelling. 

The concert itself was truly unique. It was as much about atmosphere and presentation as it was about sound. Instead of beginning in a traditional seated formation, students were positioned throughout the aisles of St Mary’s church. Each performer entered individually, improvising using the A minor blues scale. As they concluded, they sustained a drone, creating a layered harmonic backdrop for the next musician. This evolving texture built into a striking collective sound. 

The second piece featured Ellen (baritone horn), Lottie (violin) and Lydia (clarinet), improvising alongside Hannabiell over a driving rhythmic foundation provided by Yilis, Rhys (percussion), Ben (bass guitar) and Auburn (guitar). 

The final work was an original composition by Hannabiell in 5/4 time. Students performed an accompaniment while she delivered a powerful spoken-word element, adding another dimension to the performance. 

Although the programme consisted of just three pieces, they unfolded over 45 minutes of near-continuous music. Seamless transitions meant there was no pause between sections, maintaining momentum and immersion throughout. 

The second half of the evening showcased Ladies of Midnight Blue in performance. Their set was vibrant, engaging and full of personality. The atmosphere in the church was electric, with audience members clapping, laughing and even dancing in the aisles. 

At the conclusion of the concert, the response from the audience was overwhelmingly positive. Many commented on the confidence, creativity and musicianship displayed by our students, as well as the originality of the performance as a whole. It is undoubtedly an experience that will stay with them for years to come. 

This event was organised and funded by the Swaledale Festival, and we are extremely grateful for the opportunity it has provided our students. 

The Richmond musicians who took part were: 

Seluleko Bhembe, Mathilda Boyd, Benjamin Denton, Alban Desics, Fin Duffield, Ellen Ford, Jessica Ford, Charlotte Francis, Eloise Francis, Flynn Hammond, Dan Harding, Harry Hare, Edward Hilyer, William Hilyer, Thomas Hinde, Lottie James, Freddie Lundberg, Annie Martinson, Lydia Martinson, Amelia McCormack, Rhys Price, William Swainston, Rubie Walton, Teddy Warren, Kimi Williams, Arthur Young, Mr McCormack and Miss Abbey. 

Thank you to Mrs Moore, History Teacher and organiser of the visit, for this report:  

"Richmond School's History Department was delighted to welcome Holocaust survivor Liesel Carter BEM into school recently. Liesel is 91 years old, one of a very few remaining Holocaust survivors who are still able to tell their stories. Students at Richmond School are the last generation who will hear directly from people like Liesel - it was a poignant and important day for the school.   

Born in Germany, Liesel travelled alone at just four years old across Europe to Britain to escape from Nazism. She explained in her talk that out of 250 extended members of her family, only six survived. Liesel spoke of the loss of her father; how he was beaten and placed in a concentration camp when she was only 18 months old.   

In 1939, Liesel's mother, Marthe, managed to secure a job as a domestic servant in Hull, but under the terms of her visa she was unable to take Liesel with her. Travel documents were later organised for Liesel, and she travelled alone through Germany, Sweden and Norway, where she stayed for a month with a Norwegian family. Liesel then travelled by boat and reunited with her mother in January 1940.   

Liesel's main point of discussion was around how she spent years of her life researching what happened to her family, especially her father. Liesel later reunited with her Norwegian foster family and travelled back to Germany to visit her father's grave.    

It was an absolute privilege to host Liesel and her daughter Janet. Liesel left Year 10 students with a poignant message - to respect everyone regardless of their background. Liesel emphasised the importance of forgiveness and learning from the atrocities of the Holocaust.     

I would like to thank all of Year 10 for the huge amount of respect shown in the talk. I've really appreciated students stopping me in the corridor and chatting to me about it; it's had a profound impact. I'm really pleased that we could provide this once in a lifetime opportunity for both students and staff - it was lovely to see such support for this prestigious and important event.   

Thanks to the Holocaust Centre North for facilitating the visit and to Janet who accompanied Liesel on her trip to Richmond." 

Students at Richmond have an incredibly wide range of interests and hobbies, ranging from sport, drama and music, to nature, photography and local history. We recently found out that Michael Bagley, Year 7 student, is interested in World War 2 history and has started to build up quite a collection of artefacts on his visits to antique shops. This sounded fascinating, so we arranged a time for Michael to bring in some items from his collection and tell us a bit more information about his interest in WW2. 

When the allotted time came, Michael knocked on the door of the Media office and made quite an entrance. He was dressed in a military jacket, carrying a complex set of webbing and storage bags, and was topped by a slightly-too-large helmet. He looked brilliant! 

Michael unpacked items from his collection, including magazines, a diary, insignia, a model plane and spread them out on a table so we could take some photos. As he did so, he told us a bit about the provenance of some of his collection, explaining that he’d acquired the items from various antique shops in Richmond, Whitby and Cornwall. Some of the collection had also come from his grandad; Michael said that it was his grandad who’d got him interested in WW2 history in the first place and that his dad – Michael's great-grandad – had actually fought in the war.  

We then looked at a map of Richmond to identify the position of Michael’s favourite antiques shop – Antique Haven. Coincidentally, this is a just a few doors up from his grandma’s cake shop – Edwina's Cakes. Michael told us that he enjoyed visiting his grandma here as he often got free cake! He said that he liked visiting Antique Haven as the owner was really friendly, gave him discounts and had a lovely dog! Michael described a few of the interesting items he’d found in the shop – a periscope from a tank, cartridge cases and a coin from Vietnam. We talked about the helmet, jacket and webbing Michael was wearing as well as a beret he had and its regimental insignia. Michael also told us about his plans to expand his collection with a gas mask and, ideally, a tank! 

Thanks to Michael for giving us an insight into his collection and his family connection to WW2 – we wish him luck as his collection grows – maybe he’ll arrive at the prom in Year 11 in that tank!