Lord Lieutenant takes a tour of Fir Vale Academy

The Lord Lieutenant had shown previous interest in the challenging circumstances of the area, recently walking the streets of Page Hall and Burngreave to talk to the local community and see first-hand what problems they faced.

A spokesman for the school said: “The Lord Lieutenant was pleased to be touring the school on an ‘Enrichment Day’ which was dedicated to learning and applying new employability skills, and he visited several ‘STEM’ activities, engaging with the students and the staff.

“He also observed students building ‘dioramas’ in English, met and encouraged the Y11 students in their revision work in the outstanding Science Department in the school, and met with a Y9 group preparing a presentation on ‘Skills for Apprenticeships’ which they were delivering to officials from the Department of Work &Pensions.

“The Lord Lieutenant was very heartened by what he saw, commenting particularly on the calm, and inclusive nature of the school with students of dozens of nationalities working amicably together on projects.”

Headteacher Breffni Martin added: “These have been such a successful few years for Fir Vale Academy, being awarded the ‘Good’ Ofsted rating, winning the National top 10 per cent Award for Progress in 2015, being chosen as a successful ‘Focus School’ in the 2016 Parliamentary Review and being described by Philip Hammond as one of the great education success stories of the past 15 years.”