An ex-North Yorkshire student was recently named Best Retail Butchery apprentice at an award ceremony in London.
Josh Huitson who left the Wensleyday School and Sixth Form in 2019, stood out from apprentices around the country to win the coveted industry award at the Institute of Meat and Worshipful Company of Butchers last month.
He was presented his award by HRH The Princess Royal who is a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers and Fellow of the Institute of Meat.
Josh studied Business A-Level at Wensleydale School and has been working at Stoneygate Farm in near Richmond, for two years.
He believes he’s applied skills gained from his time at the school to his apprenticeship.
He said: “It was an honour to be nominated for such an award, but to later find out that I had won the award came as a huge surprise. Being a student at Wensleydale School set me up tremendously for my apprenticeship. Studying business allowed me to transfer lots of skills such as marketing, finance and sales and implement them into the workplace. I think anyone who studies business would agree that it teaches you to think in a different way. And funnily enough, PE made learning all the bones and joints a lot easier!”
Julia Polley, Headteacher of the school added: “We are so happy that Josh has achieved such a prestigious award. I taught Josh A-Level Business and he was an absolute pleasure to work with, I know he felt the course has helped him with his career. Josh has worked hard and is an inspiration to all of us in school as to what can be achieved. I feel very proud that our school played a part in helping Josh achieve at such a high level.”
The school prides itself on its enterprising focus, which prepares students for working life and it has since developed a business-centred sixth form curriculum.
