Thanks to Miss Dutton for the following report. 

“Yet again our Year 7 German students have not disappointed us with their Supertier models and drawings. The models were a mixture of home crafted Items such as crocheted/knitted toys as well as 3D printed animals and creatures made of recycled materials. We were really impressed with the time and effort students had spent on their models. Well done!” 

The six winning models were: 

Eleni Barron 7EHE - Superpferd  

Maggie Copland 7HWB- Superpandabär 

Erin Anderson 7WMI - Superkaninchen 

Cameron Pick 7LJE - Superflamingo 

Jessica Rukin 7LJE – Superkaninchen 

Lennon Hutchinson 7EHE - Superfisch 

“YES@ Areté Learning Trust at Richmond School has been awarded £16,184 from The National Lottery Community Fund to continue delivering its successful Activities for All programmes, supporting children, young people and families across the local community. 

The funding will allow YES@ Areté Learning Trust to continue Activities for All, a community-led programme providing accessible physical activity, wellbeing opportunities and social connection for children and young people aged 4–18 with learning differences and additional barriers to participation. 

The programme builds on the success of previous inclusive activity sessions, which have been highly valued by families across the area. It has been shaped by feedback from children, parents, carers and community partners who highlighted the importance of having welcoming opportunities where young people can take part, build confidence and develop friendships in a supportive environment. 

Activities for All welcomes families from across the area, regardless of which school children attend, creating a community space where young people can participate safely and feel a strong sense of belonging. 

The programme will continue to include a wide range of activities including: 

The programme recognises that many children and young people can find mainstream sports and activities difficult to access due to confidence barriers, coordination difficulties, sensory needs or anxiety. By continuing to provide welcoming and inclusive sessions, Activities for All ensures every participant has the opportunity to succeed. 

A spokesperson for YES@ Areté Learning Trust at Richmond School said: 

"We are delighted to have received this funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. This support will allow us to continue the Activities for All programmes, creating opportunities where children and young people of all abilities can be active, creative, make friends and feel part of their community." 

Back in November 2024, we published an article about Year 9 student Sarah Nolan’s love for gliding and how she had gained the skills and experience for her first solo flight. Then, frustratingly, she had to wait until she was 14, the minimum age to go solo. We followed that article up with another one in July 2025, detailing her first solo flight and how her gliding had progressed since then. Sarah spoke about how peaceful yet exciting she found gliding, and the confidence, independence and focus it has given her.  

It turns out that Sarah is not the only accomplished glider pilot at Richmond School and, in fact, she has been quite influential in the progress of another one, Jacob Gray. We recently heard that Jacob, Year 10 student at Richmond, had just taken his first solo flight, under a year after his very first flight. We took the opportunity to catch up with Jacob to find out more. 

Jacob started by explaining that he was a member of the Richmond Air Cadets and had been flying with them previously, but not enough to actually progress and learn how to fly. He knew that Sarah Nolan had started gliding with help from a British Gliding Association scholarship. Jacob successfully applied for the same funding and took his first flight at the Yorkshire Gliding Club on Sutton Bank in May 2025 – he said from that point onwards, he was hooked! Jacob then started taking regular flights, working through the criteria needed to eventually go solo. Just before he was ready, the Civil Aviation Authority updated the Sailplane Pilot’s Licence syllabus, adding much more complexity, which meant that Jacob had a bit more work to do before his first solo flight.  

Jacob explained that his drive and determination for flying come from a long-time interest in aviation, with an ambition to eventually become a commercial airline pilot. He said that the next step towards this goal would be to gain his Private Pilot’s Licence, possibly at Teesside Flight School, though that requires 150 hours of flight time – a real challenge. One way to gain some of this flight time would be for Jacob to fly the tugs – the powered planes that tow the gliders into the air – at the Yorkshire Gliding Club. 

We returned to talking about Jacob’s gliding, where he gave us a bit more information about the seven stages required to qualify for a solo flight. Firstly, students learn about the basic principles of flight, then move on to safety – recovering from two of the most serious situations an aircraft can get into – stalling and spinning. Jacob calmly explained how to prevent the glider from dropping out of the sky after a stall and spinning downwards out of control. He said he had done these recovery manoeuvres so many times they were now automatic and relied on muscle memory. He did admit to being properly scared the first time he had to do it, though! 

Jacob talked us through some of the glider's instruments, explaining the function of the altimeter, radio, airspeed indicator, and the all-important varios, indicating whether the glider is in rising or sinking air. He also mentioned the controls – the joystick, cable release, and rudder pedals. Jacob also explained that the unique position of the Yorkshire Gliding Club at the top of Sutton Bank allows two methods of take-off: being towed up by a powered aircraft or, when a good westerly blows, being launched by a winch. 

Jacob then detailed some of the other stages he went through before his solo flight, including learning how to manage the two launch methods as well as the critical, just-one-chance landing. His advice was not to think too hard about having just one chance to land a £180,000 aircraft and just learn how to do it, practice, and get on with it! 

Jacob explained that he had taken around 55 flights before he was ready to go solo and that the weather had often been quite challenging during his training. Those flights varied significantly in their lengths, from just a few minutes if there was no rising air to gain altitude, to over an hour if conditions were good. He said that experienced pilots can go cross-country if the conditions are ideal, sometimes travelling hundreds of kilometres. Part of the skill of being a good pilot is reading the sky and trying to work out where the next thermal is; how to gain height and distance while avoiding sinking air and the ever-present possibility of ‘landing out’ - not getting back to the club and landing in a potentially unfriendly farmer’s field – Jacob said that it was like a big, complicated guessing game! 

We eventually got to the details of Jacob’s first solo flight. He said that on the day he had done a ‘check flight’ to check the instructor was happy with his flying and the conditions, but that it was quite windy, especially on landing. Jacob thought he wouldn’t be allowed to go solo because of this, but he was asked, “How do you feel about doing it on your own?”. Unsurprisingly, he said yes - he said the nerves didn’t start until after take-off! Often, first solo flights are quite short, but Jacob managed to find a 9-knot thermal and ascended to 4000 feet, just below cloud level. He stayed up for 40 minutes, even taking the opportunity to have fun with some zero-G manoeuvres, something that Jacob enjoys, though many other people don’t! Conditions on landing were a bit rough, but Jacob said he didn’t really have time to be nervous about it, and his landing ended up being smooth, almost as good as his textbook take off! Jacob managed to get some excellent photos from his flight by starting a 360-degree camera recording before take off and stopping it after he landed. He said he enjoyed looking back over and editing the footage as well as choosing the best frames for photos. 

Jacob finished by explaining what was next for his gliding. He said conditions hadn’t been ideal recently, but that his next steps involved going solo from a winch launch and also transferring from a two-seat to a single-seat glider. His enthusiasm and determination to gain more hours and experience in the air were very clear to see! 

You can see Yorkshire Gliding Club's Facebook post about Jacob’s solo flight at this link.

Thank you to Mr Swanwick for the following report: 

“Our U13 girls cricket side travelled to Aysgarth recently for the quarter final of the Yorkshire Cup in what proved to be a very tight match.   

Batting first, Richmond recovered from 10-4 to post a competitive 79-4 from their 16 overs, the innings being expertly held together thanks to a 69-run partnership between Annabel Hodges (37*) and Georgia Clarke (8*).   

Aysgarth began their innings quickly, but they were pegged back thanks to quick wickets from Annabel and Ellie Buchanan to leave the hosts 31-2 off 5 overs. However, the next over bowled by Delia Barnham threatened to turn the match on its head, taking 3 wickets in 4 balls to leave Aysgarth reeling on 38-5. The home team steadied the ship and pushed towards the total, but yet again, 3 wickets were taken in an over as Anna Barber reduced the hosts to 58-8. The game was on a knife edge! Some quick thinking from Rose Brown led to a direct hit, running out the Aysgarth number 10.   

With 3 overs to go, Richmond needed 1 wicket and Aysgarth 6 runs for the victory...  

But it was the home side’s number 3 batter that held her nerve to see Aysgarth home, winning by 1 wicket.  

The match was a great advert for girls cricket. A number of the girls are fairly new to hard ball cricket, so it was nice to see their confidence growing as the match went on as well as the support that they always show for one another.   

We wish Aysgarth the best of luck as they progress to face Scarborough College in the semi final. 

Thank you to Ms Richardson, Head of Sixth Form, for the following:    

“Students from Richmond Sixth Form College attended the Year 13 Prom at the Morritt Arms, Greta Bridge last night. It was an evening of celebration and fun, marking the end of an era for these students and also the promise of an exciting future.     

It was lovely to see the students arrive, watched by their friends and family, then enjoy the evening and dance the night away! The weather was glorious, so we were able to access the lovely grounds at the Morritt late into the evening.   

The Head Students organised awards for students and staff which were well-received and presented by Joe White, Ellie Hughes and Guy Feakins.    

We are so very proud of our students, and a great night was had by all!”  

These photos are just a selection. More can be found at the link below:  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RLsNAy6XxcpuxJcK9