‘Super proud’ Les Voies students receive national awards
Five students from Les Voies School were presented with awards in the Engage in their Future 2024 ceremony.
Jess Power, Thomas Chaddock and Drew Gauvain, all 16, and Lennon Hanley and Leighton Hicks, both 15, travelled to Manchester for the ceremony.
All of them said they felt a sense of pride when their names were called out on stage to receive their awards.
‘It’s good that I can prove people wrong. My old school when I left told me I wouldn’t be able to do anything,’ said Jess, who won the Outstanding Personal Progress award.
Lennon had won the Judge’s Choice award.
‘It was good to get it and Dad was super proud,’ he said.
The Leavers Success Story award was given to Tom for his personal progress within education.
He had recently undertaken a horticulture course at The Guernsey Institute and was looking to take Level 3 in IT.
Drew had won the Sports Student of the Year award, given his enthusiasm for badminton.
‘I started playing badminton four years ago and play for the island, and I got to hold the flag in the Island Games,’ he said.
It was reported that the whole school had cheered when his name was called out over the live-stream.
Leighton was awarded the Outstanding Personal Resilience award.
‘I was quite pleased to get it. Overcoming the challenges hasn’t always been easy,’ he said.
Teacher Merrilee Tabel said that she felt emotional when the students were shortlisted, and then earned their awards.
‘The students got to hear about all sorts of other students' personal stories from all over the UK, who may not have had that traditional education,' she said.
‘When Jess came to us she was quite disillusioned with school, she went from 23% attendance to about 98% now. Lennon has done so well with his "read, write, ink" programme so his teacher nominated him.
‘Tom started with one-to-one lessons and is now fully integrated into the school.
'Drew inspires and coaches the young people into badminton and I’m so proud that Leighton went up on to the stage, shook hands and had a photo taken.
Headteacher Jon Furley said: ‘It shows how successful our students can be. For individual reasons they have all been on their own journey.
‘Really I want to thank the staff for taking the time to put the nominations in and all the work they do.
'I hope these awards help with the next step in their success journeys.'
