Larkhall Academy celebrates pupils' successes with international tie

Star students who are successfully flying the flag for Larkhall Academy in a range of academic and sporting spheres are being recognised with a new international tie.

Proud school staff have introduced the prestigious honour to reward pupils who have achieved “exceptional successes” at national or international level, ranging from sporting caps and medals to notable SQA exam achievements.

The distinctive tie, with vertical stripes in the school’s colours along with a Saltire flag, has so far been awarded to pupils for a variety of outstanding achievements impressing their teachers and classmates.

School captain and talented golfer Fraser Steven is among the inaugural recipients, after qualifying for the world schools’ championship played at the Craigielaw, Longniddry and Royal Musselburgh courses in East Lothian, where he came third in the senior pupil category and fifth overall.

Fifth-year footballer Keeley Cerretti has been honoured after joining the Lionesses squad at the English Amputee Football Association – she joined the women’s team 12 months ago and has since competed in the Amp Futbol Cup in Poland and is competing in the first-ever ladies’ amputee world cup in Colombia this month.

Motherwell winger Lucas Weir of S4 has been capped by Scotland’s under-16 squad, taking part in a friendly tournament in Spain earlier this season and then forming part of the national squad for last month’s Victory Shield matches at Broadwood.

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Alana Bradshaw of S5 won gold at the Scottish Gymnastics Championship and joined the Great Britain delegation at last year’s World Gymnastrada in Amsterdam – along with S6 pupil Kayleigh Mathieson, who also represented Scotland in tumbling at the British championship.

The youngest recipient to date is S1 pupil Blair Smith, who competed in the world go-karting finals in Valencia, after winning the Scottish plate and coming ninth at the British championship.

International ties have also been awarded by the school’s honours committee to Jack Kennedy of S5, who represented Scotland at a darts tournaments in Gibraltar, Scottish judo team member Harvey Hunter of S4 and Scottish championship 4x100m relay runner Jak Weir of S5.

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Biggar RFC teammates Caitlin Hoad and Erin Stewart, both of S5, Morgan Gemmell of S4 and sixth-year Skye Anderson helped their club side to win the under-16s girls’ national cup, while Holly Sayer of fourth year won tae kwon-do gold and silver at the 2023 British under-15 championship.

The special ties have also been awarded to footballers Mila Gold of S5, who helped her team to Scotland under-16 cup success, and Kayla Scott of S4 who plays for Celtic under-17s; as well as to S6 pupil and ballet dancer Sarah Fairley, who gained the highest mark in Scotland in the grade seven exam and travelled to Barcelona to take part in the Youth American Grand Prix scholarship programme.

Academic recognition went to three pupils who achieved remarkable perfect 100 per cent exam scores – Jack Burnett in Higher history, and Ross Jamieson and Leo McNulty, respectively in National 5 maths and in religious, moral and philosophical studies.

A school spokesperson: “We’re extremely proud of the success of many of our young people and we have introduced the international tie to celebrate those who have achieved success at these levels.

“It is a prestigious recognition awarded to students who achieve exceptional success in activities with an international dimension – these accomplishments highlight the global ambition and talent nurtured at Larkhall Academy, and the school looks forward to more success stories in the months to come.”

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