Celebrating the Rewards of Seven Great Years at CHS

Just before Christmas we welcomed our 2022-23 year 11 students in to school to celebrate the rewards of seven great years at Congleton High School with our Sixth Form Awards Evening.

On arrival, guests were greeted with a wonderful array of canapés and mocktails, prepared and served by Mr Wilcock and Mrs Pointon from our catering team. The event was opened with a welcome from Deputy Head, Mr Warren, who thanked all the students and families who had joined us for the event. Assistant Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form, Miss Boulton, then invited students on to the stage to collect their exam certificates from CHS Chair of Governors, Mr Benson.

Once the certificates had been presented, Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Mr Franklin, gave a recap of the cohort's time at CHS and invited everyone to recognise the students’ achievements with a hearty round of applause.

Then the important business of presenting awards began with the announcement of the students who had been awarded a certificate and £10 Amazon voucher for outstanding achievement in their Sixth Form subjects.

In each subject, the winning students were:

• Art and Design: Sophia Adu-Gyamfi and Amelia Mayson
• Art and Design (Cambridge Technical): Kyra Parnell
• Applied Science: Eden Bedson and Kati-Leigh Newson
• Biology: Finn Garner and Kate Oakley
• Business: Lucy Janes and Aidan Lynch
• Chemistry:  Ryan Cartlidge and Isaac Cumberlidge
• Child Development: Hannah Bradbury and Taylor Rowe
• Computer Science: Amy Cooper  and Leo Willcock
• Drama: Grace Kennedy
• Early Years Educator: Darby Armour, Angel Arthington and Paige Avery
• Economics: Bobby Eckersley and Aidan Lynch
• Engineering: Adam Taylor
• English Language: Amelia Mayson
• English Literature: Grace Kennedy and Harriet Smith
• Food Science and Nutrition: Charlie Moreton
• Further Maths: Travis Dixon-O’Neill and Finn Garner
• Geography: Kian Foster and Natalie Tadjeran
• Health and Social Care: Charlotte Hibbert and Molly Millward
• History: Megan Beech and Ellie Bestwick
• ICT: Travis Dixon-O’Neill and Thomas Hatton
• Law: Ellie Bestwick and Olivia Farrell
• Maths: Ryan Cartlidge and Maddison Hughes
• Media Studies: Tommy Barton and Thomas Hatton
• Music: Tobias Pass and Ben Sproston
• PE A Level: Kate Oakley
• PE BTEC: Alfie Taylor
• Physics: Jordan Crowther, Isaac Cumberlidge and Finn Garner
• Photography: Will Stanford and Jessica Wilson
• Politics: Leah Fraser and Aidan Lynch
• Product Design: Ash Starmer
• Psychology: Megan Beech and Lucy Janes
• Public Services: Neva Burrows and Fatema Gajoum
• Sociology: Megan Beech and Lucy Janes
• Spanish: Billy Hepting

Before the announcement of the CHS Special Awards, CHS alumnus, Sam Worthington, took to the stage to address the guests. Sam spoke of his time at CHS along with his experiences since leaving and at university. He shared some words of advice to help students make the most of their ongoing education.

It was then time for the CHS Special Awards, prizes in recognition of students who had excelled in specific areas of their Sixth Form years.

Mr Warren presented awards for Outstanding Contribution to School life to: Eden Bedson, Hannah Bradbury, Ryan Cartlidge, Leah Fraser, Lucy Janes, Rebecca Jepson, Grace Kennedy, Natasha Scott and Nina Whitehurst.

Mr Benson presented Amy Cooper and Prisais Iwelumo with The Award for Personal Academic Achievement and Kyra Parnell with The Governor’s Award.

The main award of the night was the Martin Strawson Award for Outstanding Achievement. Mr and Mrs Strawson attended the event to present the award and Mr Strawson gave a few words about their son, Martin, and how his short life was one well lived and akin to the quote from Mahatma Gandhi: 'Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.'

This year The Martin Strawson Award was presented to Isaac Cumberlidge, a remarkable student who achieved his GCSE Maths in Year 6 with an A* and has continued to excel throughout his seven years with Congleton High School.

Our special guest speaker, Sam Worthington, won the Martin Strawson Award in 2021, which was one of the years when Covid prevented us from having any awards events so Sam was never actually presented with the trophy. It seemed only right and fitting that Sam was finally able to hold the trophy and also meet Mr and Mrs Strawson.