THE Archbishop of York dropped in to meet pupils at York’s largest secondary school this week.

Stephen Cottrell was at Archbishop Holgate’s CE School in Badger Hill to take part in the school’s Year 13 leavers celebration.

Attended by students, parents and teachers, the evening was an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the students’ achievements and time at school before they sit their A-level exams.

The school’s head of the sixth form, Francesca De Lashley, said: “We were delighted the archbishop was able to attend the evening and share in celebrating our Year 13’s time at school.

“For many of our sixth form students this marks the end of seven years at Archbishop Holgate’s and was the last time they will all spend together in school.

“It was a lovely evening, sharing memories with friends and teachers and was also an opportunity to thank the Year 13 students for the many contributions they’ve made during their time at school.”

The Archbishop shared many words of encouragement telling students to use the gifts they’ve been given to the full and to pursue their dreams to benefit themselves and the world.

He also said the school values of justice, compassion, forgiveness and trust are beautiful things that not just the school needs but that the world needs and encouraged students to let them shine out of their lives.

The evening also included prayers and readings from students and staff and musical pieces performed by the school’s Unity Choir.

Head teacher, Andrew Daly, said: “I would like to thank the Archbishop for taking the time to join our leavers celebration and for his inspiring words of encouragement.

“The students have shown an incredible amount of resilience and determination over the past two years and it was a real pleasure to celebrate their time at Archbishop Holgate’s as a school community.”

Last year the school was judged to be outstanding in all areas following a two-day inspection by Ofsted.

The school in Hull Road, which has 1,800 students, had been inspected since 2007 when it was also found to be outstanding which exempted it by law from routine checks.

Archbishop Holgate’s is also part of the government’s national network of 87 school-led centres of excellence for teacher and leadership training and development.

This means working in close partnership with Hope Learning Trust, Ebor Academy Trust and other partners, leading a teaching school hub for the Scarborough, Ryedale and York region.

Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust, a partnership of ten church and community schools serving more than 4,200 pupils and their families across York.