Archbishop's Speech at the Opening of the Archbishop Sentamu Academy, Hull

Archbishop of York addresses pupils and staff at Archbishop Sentamu Academy

When I asked your Principal what he wanted for the Academy, he said,

"I want the students here to have access to the best education, to the best universities and to the best jobs as anyone else in the country".

And in this vision the initials of the Academy's name: 'The Archbishop Sentamu Academy' have been cleverly used to develop the motto of this Academy. A - Archbishop: 'Aspire, S – Sentamu: Serve, A – Academy: Achieve.

And this is the motto for each one of you.

The first part of the motto of this academy 'ASPIRE' which means 'desire earnestly' – something that you really, really want.

The second part of our motto is SERVE. What does service mean to us? We have a wonderful example of service in Jesus Christ who came to serve the purposes of God in the world. Service is about making things possible through giving to love and respect to one another.

The whole of this Academy is about serving. You can see it if you look around this hall today. The Head and staff have been and will continue to serve the work of the Academy and your education and your future.

The sponsors through whose generosity this Academy has come into being with a range of subjects and opportunities which would have been un-heard of in the past.

ASPIRE. SERVE.

The final part of this Academy's motto is ACHIEVE.

Achieve certainly does mean getting a good education, getting good results and going onto further training and careers that you want to follow.

But 'achievement' isn't just about passing exams and getting good jobs'.

It's about 'learning how to learn' – really enjoying finding out more about the world and learning new skills' – not just learning a string of facts like a parrot!

A story is told of a boy who was found at the age of twelve having been raised by a wolf.

The boy had a tremendously high IQ. In three years he obtained A Star and A grades in all his GCSE and A levels. Two years later he graduated with a first class degree in nuclear physics from a top university.

He was destined for an extremely brilliant future – until a terrible accident occurred.

The boy was killed one day trying to bite the tyres of a speeding car in a 30 mile an hour residential area.

True education does more than enable us to pass exams. True Education forms the common mind – it creates the realm for the application of knowledge beyond simple understanding.

The Latin root of our word Education is educare, and its meaning is 'drawing out' – drawing out the best from each learner. This is what the Archbishop Sentamu Academy stands for.

Achievement is also about learning to give. Feeling sufficiently confident in yourself so that you can go out and help other people. It might be helping someone in your year who is struggling, helping care for a member of your family or giving time to serve people in the community.

At the end of this ceremony today, I will present a Memorial Cross to the Academy. The Cross is symbol used by Christians to remind them of hope.

It is the hope of light overcoming darkness and good triumphing over evil.

It reminds us that God does keep his promises.

Look at the cross. It is rooted in the earth, it points upwards to God, and it stretches out its arms to the east and the west for our neighbours.

The Cross is about God setting us free to love him through Jesus. But it also reminds us that we are called to serve.

Remember, by his cross, Jesus has set each one of us free to live life to the full, secure in God's love.

Finally, some people have expressed surprise that the Academy is named after me. After all, I am a living Archbishop and the previous school was called after the medieval Archbishop of York, Thurstan.

But I think it is right and I think my predecessor would have approved! For Archbishop Thurstan had great vision and worked hard to make this vision a reality when he took brave steps to build up the churches of York and helped to found monasteries including Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.

Today as the 97^th Archbishop of York, I am proud to have my name linked to this Academy because I believe so strongly in the vision on which it is based and also trust that all of you here will turn that vision into a reality.

After all, my name Sentamu means the one who keeps the King's fire burning.

So I exhort all of you to keep the flame of hope: Aspire, Serve, Achieve!

I pray that the fire will keep burning in you all. And that this Academy will transform the lives of those who study and work here and will play its part in the great development of education to which the city of Hull is so committed.

If Hull City Football Club could do it at the Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club, so can you all. Today we are slaying the past giants of low esteem, low aspiration, and under-achievement. Be the change you want to see here. Then your grades will not just be A for Acceptable, as in the Harry Potter OWL results: they will be EE - Exceeding Expectation, and O - Outstanding!

So aspire, serve and achieve' and may God bless you.

Please stand and say "The Lord Reigns!"