Principal’s Weekly Post – Week 17

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been an incredibly high-energy week here at York High School. This week, the entire school took part in Inspire Week, a dedicated programme designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the world of work. All year groups participated in a diverse range of activities focused on developing the crucial skills needed for modern careers including communication, problem-solving and resilience.

Whether it was meeting industry professionals or tackling hands-on workshops, our students showed brilliant participation. It has been wonderful to see them thinking critically about how their current studies translate into exciting future pathways.

As referenced last week, our Year 9 students reached an important milestone this week as they began their Pathways Meetings. These conversations are a vital part of the transition toward Key Stage 4, allowing students to sit down with key staff to discuss their option choices and align their subjects with their personal interests and career goals.

I would also like to remind parents and carers about our Year 9 Parent Pathway event that takes place on Wednesday 21 January from 3.30-6.30pm. There will be an opportunity for the Year 9 community to book meetings with your child’s teachers for the following subjects:

• English
• Maths
• Science
• History
• Geography
• Religious Studies
• French

There will also be the chance to find out more about the other subjects we are offering by visiting our Pathways Market Stall in the LRC where you will have the chance to speak to the subject specialists, see examples of coursework and past exam papers as well as speak to some of our Year 10 and 11 students who currently take these subjects.

Please may I also ask if any parents or carers are picking up their child from school to not use the disabled bays unless there is a genuine need. These parking spaces are used by families that require these spaces due to additional needs and we have received recent reports that these spaces are often occupied at the end of each school day by cars that do not display disabled parking badges.

Finally, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to our parents and carers. Your ongoing support, whether it’s discussing career ideas at the dinner table or attending school meetings is what makes this community thrive. We truly value the partnership we have with you in supporting our students’ ambitions.

Warmly,

Gavin Kumar
Principal

Year 8 Inspiration in Arts 

On Tuesday, all of Year 8 took part in a Learning Development Day centred around careers in the Arts sectors. They did sessions on Set & Costume Design, Devising Theatre (with an actor and director), Beatboxing, Dance and a classroom session with videos from industry professionals. This session also included a video recorded especially for York High School from the conductor of the English National Ballet.

Duke of Edinburgh

Students had a meeting before Christmas about their expedition training weekend at the end of February and Mark Rampling from Adventurize came to present information to our students on Friday 16 January.

We would now like to invite parents to join us for an online session on Tuesday 20 January. There will be a meeting at 3:30pm and one at 7:30pm to try and accommodate everyone’s working patterns. Here are the links:

3:30pm: https://meet.google.com/eyy-chkz-ybd

7:30pm: https://meet.google.com/ohx-vjfz-ypq

Aspire Week 2026

This week has seen our annual ‘Aspire Week’ return for students in all year groups. It provides a great opportunity to focus on careers opportunities, particularly opportunities for students to apply employability skills in contexts outside of the classroom.

We’re delighted to share some details of the activities which have occurred this week, below!

Year 11 College taster days

It was wonderful to see our Year 11s engage so well in their post-16 taster days on Tuesday and Thursday this week. There are further opportunities to visit open evenings, and settings in small groups.

Please contact v.bettney@yorkhigh.elt.org.uk if you would like to discuss some additional support for your child ahead of applying.

Year 11 college applications and mock interviews

Next Friday (23 January) will see our Year 11s apply for their college courses, with the support of York College. We would encourage students not to apply before this dedicated session. Students will also have at least two mock interviews from a range of professionals across the City of York.

Whole-school Careers Fair

Monday saw all of our students engage in our Careers Fair. We welcomed 20 professionals from a variety of careers sectors within the city, as well as educational providers. Students visited the fair for 30 minutes, having a route which ensured they had spoken to an employer, apprenticeships provider, and post-16 or -18 provider in the city. They could then speak to any other providers in the room.

Visitors commented on how focused our students were and how well they engaged. Year 7 were recognised in particular for how many questions they came up with for the visitors.

Thank you so much to all of those who participated in our Careers Fair, we couldn’t do it without you!

Year 7/8 Wind Turbine Challenge

On Wednesday 50 of our Year 7 and 8 students participated in a creative STEM activity for the whole day, delivered by The Smallpeice Trust. Students developed a huge range of employability skills, from problem solving to teamwork to creative leadership, designing their own wind turbines. Students had budgets to keep to, as well as the opportunity to use glue guns to design some fantastic turbines, before presenting their designs back to the group.

We were so impressed with the students’ participation and engagement – well done to everyone involved!

Year 7/8 design a Music Festival Challenge

Thursday saw 45 Year 7 and 8s design their own music festival, combining maths and creativity with key employability skills.

Mike and Ruth from The Talent Foundry delivered a fantastic session to our students, who were fantastically focused! Well done to all students, particularly Joseph in Year 7 who was recognised by the visitors for his phenomenal engagement. Thank you also to Jack from The Place for supporting with this session.

NYBEP Stock Market Challenge

Thursday also saw our Year 8 and 9 cohorts getting down to business on the stock market floor, trading stocks based on changing information in small groups. Every student engaged wonderfully with this activity, and it was great to see students so invested in their outcomes.

Well done to the Year 9 team who made £317,000 on the markets in the morning – commiserations to the group who fully invested in Pegasus holdings and lost it all!

Year 7 Bouncebackabilty Day

Year 7 have finished the week with another fantastic Learning Experience Day, involving a two-hour workshop from Aviva on developing resilience, a key school value. As part of the day, students have also seen the importance of maths for the real world, and had a go at budgeting.

Well done to all students involved, and thank you to The Place and Aviva.

Enrichment

If students would like to sign up to further clubs, we encourage them to speak to Miss Bettney in school, or to email enrichment@yorkhigh.elt.org.uk. Our goal is for every student to do at least one per week.

Year 8 Employability Mentoring

We’re delighted to be able to offer a small group of Year 8 students some employability mentoring, starting on Monday. If your child is involved, you will have received a separate email about this.

Year 8 Liverpool trips

It’s only two weeks until our first Liverpool residential of the year for Year 8 students! Please ensure that your child’s food selection form has been completed by the end of Sunday 18 January.

Year 10 Battlefields trip parent meeting

We would like to invite parents and guardians of Year 10 students going on the Battlefields trip to a meeting at 6pm on Monday 9 February. We ask that students bring their passports and EHIC cards to this meeting, to be stored securely in school until our trip.

Community Cupboard

Our school is committed to helping those in need through our community cupboard, ensuring that every student and family has access to essential food/household items. Donations are always welcome and greatly appreciated, as they help us continue to support the local community.

If you or someone you know needs any support, please contact Aimee a.stewart@yorkhigh.elt.org.uk or Emma e.masterman@yorkhigh.elt.org.uk, or pop into main reception.

All requests will be handled with care and confidentiality.