Harrogate Ladies’ College will be front and centre at the 2025 TeenTech Awards, as the school has been named a TeenTech Centre of Innovation and Creativity, two pupils have also been named finalists in the Best Research Award category, and head of science, Dr Davina Kirby, has been named a Teacher of the Year finalist.
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The Centre of Innovation and Creativity Award is given to schools that clearly support their students with the opportunity to develop technological qualities, innovation and skills which will be of real value in tomorrow’s world.
“We are very proud to receive this accolade, which is testament to the outstanding work of our incredible staff and pupils,” Principal, Mrs Joanna Fox, said.
“We are proud of our record of championing careers in STEM for our pupils, which we promote through our innovative WiSE programme.”
After introducing a pioneering Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program in 2022, Harrogate Ladies’ College students continue to excel in STEM (science, technology, engineering, medicine) subjects.
About 42 per cent of the school’s 2025 university offers were in STEM-related subjects, with careers in paramedic science, veterinary science, mechanical engineering and medicine insight for the current Year 13 cohort at Harrogate Ladies’ College.
Dr Kirby, has also been nominated by her students for the TeenTech Teacher of the Year award, and was commended for inspiring her students to believe in themselves, assuring them they are ‘capable of doing something big one day.’
The TeenTech Awards is a national scheme encouraging students to create an innovative tech related project which impacts communities locally or globally, and of the four entries submitted by Harrogate Ladies’ College Year 12 pupils, two were awarded gold.
One of those projects, completed by Anya Soranaraksopon and Tamara Pohronska, has been named a national finalist for the Best Research Award out of over 250 submissions. Anya and Tamara created plans for a portable Kidney Profusion Machine and will attend an awards ceremony in London where the winners will be announced.
“The project has great potential to make a real difference in the field of organ transplantation,” the TeenTech Award judges said of Anya and Tamara’s project.
“The product is highly ethical – if built it will save many lives and is also targeted at lower income regions. It uses biodegradable material.
“This would all be truly world changing – it’s fantastic creative and big picture thinking,” they concluded.
Dr Davina Kirby, head of science at Harrogate Ladies’ College (Image: Supplied)
