Celebrating Key Stage 4 & 5 Achievements at Prize Giving

Thursday 30th November 2023

It was a joy to welcome so many students, parents, carers, and staff to our prize giving evening. It was an evening to acknowledge what has been a highly successful year, despite the challenges presented by the recent educational landscape. Our students have demonstrated tenacity, resilience, and pride, which has led to remarkable achievements.

The 2023 results show that we have achieved a new level of success. A higher number of students passed in English and Maths than the previous year, and 90% of our Year 13s secured places in universities, including the prestigious Oxford and Russell Group. Our vision is "Success for Everyone," which encompasses our students, staff, parents/carers, and the wider community. Our students' triumphs enrich the community with hope, founded in the proof of their realised ambitions.

Prize Giving is an opportunity to celebrate a milestone in life. Each of the students who received a commendation has their own unique story of hard work, set-backs, and triumphs. We celebrated all the students' successes and special awards, and we were honoured to welcome several special guests.

Cheavon Clarke, a British Olympic Boxer, addressed the audience and shared his journey from school to his success in boxing. Cheavon represented Jamaica in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and he later represented Team GB, winning a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships. Everyone was thrilled that he brought in the belt from when he won the IBF International Cruiserweight title. Cheavon is an advocate for his community and supports local and nationwide causes by utilising his success and platform. He has been recognised for his contributions by both GB Boxing and Kent Council, as well as being a Fight4Change Ambassador. He spoke about the importance of hard work, seizing opportunities with confidence and using failures as valuable lessons.

We also welcomed The Mayor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Councillor Mr. Dominic Mbang. Cllr Mbang is a Specialist Renal Nurse and Specialist Discharge Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and has previously worked as a police officer. He spoke passionately about the importance of education and how wonderful our schools in Greenwich truly are. Cllr Mbang also spoke about the two charities that he will be supporting this year, the Stroke Association and the Javan Coker Foundation.

Dr. Donald Palmer, Associate Professor of Immunology at the Royal Veterinary College was our last guest speaker of the evening. With over 45 scientific publications, Dr. Palmer is a leading researcher in the field of ageing of the immune system. He specialises in studying cellular and molecular interactions in T cell development, using advanced technologies such as antibody phage display to identify cell surface structures on tumours. In addition to his impressive research, Dr. Palmer is also a passionate educator. Dr. Palmer also shared in his speech about his upbringing in South London, where he was born and raised by parents who emigrated from Jamaica. Before joining RVC, Dr. Palmer completed his PhD at King's College London, followed by two postdoctoral fellowships at Cancer Research UK and Imperial College. He is also an Editorial Advisory Board member for Immunology News and a member of the British Society for Research on Ageing.

‘Thank you for your support over these formative years and again for attending the evening to share in the considerable success your children have achieved. To you, students, I acknowledge your trials, and I am in awe of your considerable accomplishments. I know that this admiration is shared by all our staff, as staff that care deeply about your personal and academic development. Revel in this milestone. You deserve it. Let it be just one of many more glorious milestones to come!’