Emelia, Vale of York Academy

The best thing about the Vale of York Academy is the sense of community it brings. Everybody is connected; you have that one-on-one connection with the teachers, they know what your target grades are, the ways to help you and you have connections between the pupils as well. Because it’s quite a small school, everybody knows each other and that gives a friendly feel to the school. I think the teachers are really good here at the Vale of York Academy, they help you in any way that they can whether that’s putting on intervention lessons before and after school or doing one on one intervention with you. They also set tasks in the class to fit every student’s abilities which I think is good because they are looking out for everyone and looking at everyone’s abilities.

There’s lots of sports clubs, I do netball and rounders and I used to do hockey. There’s also the Duke of Edinburgh scheme which is open to everyone and it’s really good to join in with. There’s art clubs as well and music, a real variety that people can get involved in. For students who want a club that doesn’t exist, if they speak to a teacher, they can usually get that organised.

Some of the duties I’ve had to do as Head Girl include doing speeches on open evenings, talking to special guests who come in to school and I spoke on the radio when the school went to meet the Countess of Wessex.

The school helps me progress as they know exactly what you need to do and which grades you should be getting, what you need to do to get them and then progress even more. They always push you to try your hardest, they never set tasks which are lower than your ability, they’re either at your ability or one step higher which is allowing you to make the best progress you can and then get the best grades that you can.