News
Governors Awards evening 2009 photographs are now available.
if you would like to purchase a digital copy of any photograph for £2.50 please log on to Parentpay and ensure you type the full name of the photograph in the description.
Governors Awards Evening Video >>
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Music News
Remembrance Sunday November 8th 2009
A group of singers were invited by the Town Mayor to sing in Selby Abbey at the annual service of remembrance. The Abbey was packed with townsfolk and the uniformed services and youth groups. The organist struck up with fanfares & the choiristors sang. Then Selby High sang the UN Peace Day song 'No Wars Will Stop Us Singing, Our Voices Will Stay Strong' ... they did it well ... they did it very well ... and they received an ovation from the congregation. A day to remember ... and well done to all the singers ... you received many compliments from the people who attended.
Mr Norris
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Thank you for making sure that your sons and daughters were so beautifully turned out for the start of term. They all looked so smart when they arrived back for the start of the new term. I am really looking forward to seeing them continue to be smartly dressed at all times proving that they are not only proud to be members of Selby High School, but want to achieve at the highest level, because the correlation between being properly and smartly dressed for school and achieving at the highest level is well documented. We are now an officially over-subscribed school (there were 282 applicants for 243 places this year, together with a large number of in-year transfer requests) it is essential that students realise how fortunate they are to be part of the school given that we have students queuing up for places.
I am sure that you will be delighted to note that, as was reported in the local press, the school is celebrating record GCSE results. This summer the school secured its second best examination results both in the last ten years and in its illustrious one hundred year history. What makes this achievement even more significant is that this record was achieved with proper GCSE examinations and not by resorting to easier non GCSE pathways which look good in headline figures, but do not withstand close scrutiny in respect of truly raising standards and ensuring youngsters possess the high quality transferable skills and attributes that are required for Post 16 success. As a result former Selby High School students are enabling our local college to consistently achieve at a level that places it securely in the top 10% of establishments nationally.
Once again, this summer’s results firmly place our school in the top national band of schools in terms of both our value added profile and our percentage of A*-C grades. This is the second consecutive year that the school has achieved this status and secured the demanding Fisher Family Trust top band targets. In addition, all students have done well regardless of their background and challenge, proving that we are truly an inclusive school. For example gifted and talented students secured the top grades in 72% of the examinations they sat, three quarters of all departments achieved at least 15% A* & A grades, the average points score of students hit the 407 mark and those students in receipt of free school meals achieved an A*-G pass rate of 97%!! Furthermore the performance of boys and girls bucked the national trend in terms of how we as a school narrowed the gap to less than 7%.
The reasons for our success are wide and varied. Smartly dressed & focused students, high quality tracking and intervention programmes, high levels of attendance (93% should be the minimum target for every student), excellent behaviour and challenging and ambitious expectations. Moreover, all students are encouraged to undertake the correct amount of homework and, therefore, establish proper and profitable study habits.
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28 September 2009
Selby School Children Make Their Mark on New Renaissance Park
Two Selby school children who’ve designed flags to celebrate the opening of the new Waterfront Gardens and amphitheatre in Selby will see their work go on display this week.
Fourteen year old India Copley and 13 year old Alexandra Davies are the winners of a competition to design a flag to celebrate Selby’s new Renaissance works. The town’s brand new Waterfront Park and amphitheatre opened in August as part of a multi-million redevelopment scheme for the town centre. This has been funded through regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, and facilitated by Selby District Council.
The two flags will fly on the new flag pole put up in the amphitheatre space and a flag pole opposite the new Waterfront Gardens beside the former toll bridge.
One of the winners, India Copley, said, “I was really excited when I knew I’d won – it’s really amazing to think people will see my flag up there. My design is about the history of Selby and the Abbey. I’m really looking forward to all my friends seeing my flag flying over the town!”
Leader of Selby District Council, Cllr Mark Crane, added, “Congratulations to both India and Alexandra– their designs help to complement the celebration of Selby’s history already in place at the Waterfront Park, including a new sculpture and reliefs celebrating the town and its people.
“The Renaissance works, which include the new Waterfront Park, the amphitheatre and the new pedestrian market place area, have all been designed to give Selby new public open spaces, areas where people can enjoy their town, to take part in local activities. That’s why it’s great to have local people, in this case two talented school children, involved in competitions like this – because these new open spaces belong to the community to be used by the community.”
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Selby High School supports the Campaign for the Wearing of Seatbelts in memory of Neil Houliston, a former student, who died in a car accident whilst not wearing a seat belt, on Christmas Day 2005.
