By Sarah Nicholls

Last updated at 13:53, Tuesday, 25 September 2012

A top soldier who was educated at Keswick School returned to hand out awards at the school’s prizegiving.

Pupils with their trophies

Brigadier Mike Griffiths, the Army’s director of personnel operations, was a boarder at Keswick from 1970 to 1977.

He took a tour of the school and had tea with boarders before the ceremony.

Headteacher Simon Jackson said educational reform hung in the air but the school was well placed to weather any changes.

He added: “We’ll continue our long standing tradition of choosing what’s right for our young people and if that means ploughing our own furrow then that’s what we’ll do.”

He congratulated the winners on their achievements and said: “For whatever it is you have achieved you all have one characteristic in common and that is perseverance.

“We often talk about what separates success from failure and the answer is having a go, taking a risk.

“All of you will have taken risks, failed, possibly many times but learnt from your mistakes and then ultimately succeeded.

“This is the greatest lesson that education can teach you and something to remember in the future.”

First published at 11:27, Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk