I hope this message finds you and your family well. As the end of 2024 approaches, and the final week of the term comes to an end, this is certainly a time to reflect. I feel an immense sense of pride to be Principal of this wonderful school and I want to thank you for being a part of this special school community.
The dedication of our staff to nurture the unique talents and abilities of each of our students is truly second to none and I would like to thank them for their efforts over my first term in post. I look forward to seeing colleagues again on 6 January, after a well-deserved holiday, for our training day.
The first term has been such a success as it is underpinned by the positive relationships between home and school and the amazing way our students approach their school life. Our students are the heartbeat of York High. At the core of everything we do here at York High School are our core values of Resilience, Aspirations and Success. These values are demonstrated by our wonderful students on a daily basis which is a genuine privilege to witness. A massive thank you to our student body. I hope you have a restful holiday and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year. Students return to school on Tuesday 7 January.
I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I look forward with real keenness to working with you in 2025 and I hope that you share my enthusiasm on this exciting journey.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Gavin Kumar
Principal
Monday 6 January 2025
School closed for Teacher Training Day
Tuesday 7 January 2025
School reopens for Spring Term
On Thursday 12 December, our talented students performed in the annual Festive Showcase here at York High. The programme involved a variety of acts from Singing Group, to a woodwind piece, dances, and readings. The event culminated in the, now infamous, Staff Panto!
Congratulations to all our student performers and also our students who tech-ed the showcase.
The Performing Arts Department wishes you all a very happy festive period.
On Friday 13 December, we welcomed author Julian Sedgwick into school to speak to our Year 9 and 10 students about his time in Japan. During his time in Japan, Julian spent time talking to and getting to know the people whose lives were changed by the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011; it took over 18,000 lives and destroyed countless communities as well as a nuclear power plant.
The students heard how the stories shared with Julian inspired him to write Tsunami Girl, and how the Japanese culture of sharing ghost stories has contributed to his latest book, 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café.
Our Year 10 Drama students got to work with Juilan during a character creation workshop, which will feed directly into their GCSE work in the new year.
Miss Linsey shared that it was an absolute pleasure to welcome Julian to York High School for such a fantastically successful day, with Julian commenting on how respectfully and attentively the students listened during the talks, and how friendly and positive everyone was around school.
Good luck to Julian in the York Book Awards, where his book 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café has been shortlisted, and will be voted on by students in York.
As is tradition, our Year 7 students have been presented with a book to welcome them to York High and celebrate reading.
With the books being handed out at this time of year Miss Linsey thought it only fitting to have them wrapped so that students could take them home and pop them under the tree until Christmas Eve, so that they can partake in Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic tradition of giving receiving books on Christmas Eve.
We hope they all enjoy their new book and have a wonderful time reading them over the festive break.
Lots more rewards once again this week! Well done to Micah, Megan, Leah, Nancy, Cristina, Andrea, Rowan, Isabelle, Grace, Holly, Joel, Jules, Gracie, Lewis, Harry, Daisy, Lucas and Aaron!
Well done to Lyra, Paisley, Ryan and Vinny, last week’s RAS Achievers, nominated by our Performing Arts department.
Well done to Harry, Joseph, Patrin, Phoebe and Samuel, last week’s RAS Achievers, nominated by our Geography department.
And well done to Rose who was nominated by our Science department.
Clair Curtis from the Dolce catering team is sadly retiring on Friday 20 December.
Clair has worked in the YHS Kitchen for 15 years and will be truly missed by all. Everyone at YHS and Dolce wish her a very happy retirement.
On Friday 6 December some of our Singing Group went to York Minster to work with 450 other students from across York and the Gabrieli Consort and Players. Together, they rehearsed at professional speed to put together a performance called ‘A Grand Georgian Christmas’. It was a very steep learning curve for all of the students from reading a score properly to hearing and singing with authentic historical instruments and they rose to the occasion. In the evening, they performed to a packed (and very cold!) Minster. They were a credit to the school.
Well done to Annie in Year 8 who recently achieved a Merit on her Grade 4 piano exam!
To help make sure you explore a range of careers, it’s important to use a reputable website.
The BBC Bitesize Careers website lets you see what jobs you could do with your favourite subject at school.
If you’re going to miss the brilliant Breakfast Club over the holiday (and who wouldn’t!) I want to tell you about the huge amount of free food that’ll be available around here – no, it’s not from a food bank and you don’t need referrals because it’s free for EVERYONE.
I work for an anti-waste food rescue organisation called Olio. Over Christmas we’ll be rescuing lots of surplus food from the stores who’ve been overstocking to a ridiculous degree. Then after Christmas they’ll be removing the seasonal foods of their shelves and giving it to us… and then we give it away… to YOU!
All you need to do is download the Olio app on a smart phone and sign up. Then you can start requesting food items as they become available near you. We have volunteers all over York who give the food away. There are several in Acomb, a couple in Holgate, two in Poppleton.
You might see mentions of subscription but you don’t have to subscribe to get your hands on the freebies. Subscribers don’t see the adverts – that’s the only difference.
We’ll be getting lots of basics, plus fruit and veg in addition to the Christmas specials, party food, trifles, Christmas puddings, mince pies, cheese selections, cold meats and more.
Believe it or not on Christmas Eve 2022 we gave away 18 big fresh turkey crowns. Just imagine! They literally flew out the door.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up as soon as you can and hopefully we’ll be getting your requests in time to join the big food giveaway.
Merry Christmas from Olio!
Family Matters York will be running their popular Time Out for Parents: The Teenage Years course again in March 2025.
(The course is free, although any donations towards the running of this course are a great help towards the work of this small charity.)
🏉 York RLFC Foundation is running a free turn-up-and-play, indoor multi-sports session on Friday 3 January, 1:30 – 3:30pm at Our Lady’s Church Hall, Cornlands Road. Suitable for children aged 5+.
No need to book, just turn up on the day! 🏉
A very Merry Christmas to the York High community!🎄 🎁 ☃️ #seasonsgreetings
🏉 York RLFC Foundation is running a free turn-up-and-play, indoor multi-sports session on Friday 3 January, 1:30 – 3:30pm at Our Lady’s Church Hall, Cornlands Road. Suitable for children aged 5+. No need to book, just turn up on the day! 🏉
👏 Congratulations to all our RAS Achievers nominated last week: Lyra, Paisley, Ryan, Vinny, Rose, Harry, Joseph, Patrin, Phoebe and Samuel. Great job everyone 🤩
#Resilience #Aspiration #Success
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