>> To view our list of our prize winners please click HERE <<

On Wednesday 23rd October, Risedale School welcomed pupils, former pupils, families and prestigious guests to their Annual Awards Presentation Evening.

The evening celebrated the achievements of pupils across 31 categories of awards and highlighted the perseverance, determination and hard work of the pupils. 

The awards were presented on the evening by Senior Teacher, Mr Kirkbride, alongside Senior Pupil Ambassadors Dylan Hughes and Paighton Simpson. 

Ahead of the evening Mr Yates, Deputy Head Teacher, at Risedale School, said: 

“All our pupils are kind and show huge amounts of empathy. This warmth and togetherness is a defining feature of our Risedale Family. The pupils are a credit to everyone here and are deserving of all the praise they receive.

Risedale School is truly an exciting place to work and the whole community should rightly be proud of the sustainable, upward direction the Risedale Family is travelling in.”

The awards celebrate achievement across the curriculum with trophies for academic, sporting, and voluntary successes.

Three pupils who received awards on the evening were Eva Langdale, Sienna-Jade Hanson and Lacey Hanson who all contributed to Team England’s gold medal victory at the World Cheerleading Championships which were held in Orlando last April.  

Sienna-Jade Hanson was presented with The Community Sports Award by the founders of Lazer Cheer, Mandy and Chelsea Foreman, and her sister, Lacey Hanson won The Governors’ Sports Award which was presented to her by John Glahome, Chair of The Risedale Governing Body.

Eva Langdale was awarded the Paddy Dunne Memorial Award by Mark Hill MBE. Eva captained Team England to the gold-medal victory and the historic award recognises pupils who have excelled in their sporting achievements while demonstrating strong leadership qualities.

After receiving their awards it was announced that in February 2025, all three girls will be representing the school and Lazer Cheer at the prestigious NCA All-Star National Championship 2025 in Dallas, Texas. 

On receiving the award Eva said: 

“Risedale School has supported us so much, we were given time off to train and compete which most schools wouldn’t do. Going to Dallas is going to be expensive and they have helped us with lots of fundraising ideas.”

Former pupil, Grace Hall-Twist, won two awards on the evening, the KS4 Girls PE Award for Excellence as well as the prestigious Soroptimist Cup presented to Grace by Lin Ryan of the Richmond & Dales Soroptimist Society. 

During the evening Grace was described as a true role model who displayed selfless dedication to the Risedale Family as well as the wider community with her involvement with the Fire Cadets. On receiving her award Grace said: 

“Winning these awards feels amazing. Risedale has amazing staff who will always help and support you no matter what, and the people are really kind.”

Another former pupil who won two awards on the evening was Grace Baker who won Awards for Excellence in Key Stage 4 Drama and Key Stage 4 Music, on receiving the awards she said:

“It is nice to be back at Risedale, I have really missed it! Risedale helped me to grow in confidence and has shaped my future, it helped me to choose my options at sixth form and showed me what I want to do in the future.” 

One of the final awards of the evening, The Risedale Centre Award, was presented to Calum Sankey which recognised his determination and tenacity to overcome challenges and achieve remarkable success. Since Year 7 Calum has grown in confidence and is trying to give back to other pupils through mentorship and support. On receiving his award Calum said: 

“Risedale has always supported me, every time I am upset I can go down to the Risedale Centre where they help to calm me down and help me and I am hoping to carry that on with other people as well. I like to help people around the school, making sure they are happy, helping people out makes me feel good inside.” 

After the ceremony, Headteacher Mrs Greenwood commented:

“It is wonderful to see so many of our pupils, past and present, being celebrated for their achievements, both in and out of school.  I am incredibly proud of them and proud to be leading a school with such wonderful pupils and supportive staff.”

The evening also featured performances from the Risedale School Musical Theatre Club which performed songs from The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz. 

Feedback from Social Media:

On X David Kerfoot CBE DL posted: "Great privilege to attend @RisedaleFamily school presentation evening where excellence passion commitment & the drive to learn were reflected throughout the evening in what was a wonderful celebration of the schools success."

On Facebook, Mandy and Chelsea Foreman from Lazer Cheer Academy posted: "It was an absolute honour to be asked to be part of the Risedale school awards last week. We were so proud of our athletes that were recognised for their outstanding achievements and so grateful to Risedale School for always being supportive of our athletes and our club."

#TeamRisedale 💙💜🧡❤️