Joss Naylor – the power of academic excellence mixed with exceptional communication skills
We are pleased to introduce the incredibly talented Joss Naylor in this week's edition of 'Time Travel Tuesday'.
Although a slightly more recent graduate of the school, we are sure that you will find what he has to say interesting and inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story, Joss.
We can't wait to see what happens next and have every confidence you will achieve your dreams.
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Time Travel Tuesday
When did you attend The Ryleys School?
I left at the end of Year 6 in 2018, to go to Manchester Grammar School.
What is your favourite memory of your time at The Ryleys School?
My favourite memories are working on the kit car, and going to Plas Menai. There’s something very satisfying about pushing yourself to your limits and working hard and I think the Ryleys manifests that, while also being a lot of fun!!
Do you keep in touch with friends you made during your time at the Ryleys?
I chat with my friends from Ryleys literally every day. Sometimes they shout out of car windows when they see me; their parents do too! The parent group at the Ryleys, as well as the student group, are still really close, and I know that the friends I made at the Ryleys will be my friends for life.
A short career summary
Currently I am in Year 10 and preparing for my GCSEs. My biggest successes have been the fact that I am consistently towards the top of my year at Manchester Grammar since Year 7, being one of the fifteen students in my year (of 220) to have received a High Master’s Commendation for academic achievement.
I have also written a number of essays about the environment and agriculture, which have been widely shared through Facebook to critical acclaim (even from a professor from the University of Vancouver), and been published by the National Farmers’ Union. In addition, I am currently doing a series of interviews on my YouTube channel, “jo55ss”, which have included former Manchester United chairman, Martin Edwards; and have been well-received.
However, I’d say that the most important success of mine has come from my personal development physically:
I have Cerebral Palsy, a brain injury from birth that affects me physically - before my surgery, I could not sit, stand, walk or naturally swallow, and surprisingly, talk either - however, once I started, I couldn’t shut up, and still haven’t! I had Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery when I was three and a half years old, which involved having 1/3 of my spinal cord surgically cut, which came with considerable risk at the time. Since then, my rehabilitation challenges have been steep, but also an opportunity which I grasped with both hands (and feet). Just the fact that I am able to walk unaided still astonishes me and those around me even now, twelve years on. It is the thing that has seriously changed my life, and my abilities now are something that I do not take for granted and never will.
In the future, I would like to go to Cambridge University to study Economics, although I’m not quite sure what occupation I would like to take up yet - I have been interested in both business and journalism for a long time, as well as sports management, especially football (I’m a massive Manchester United fan), and value the use of data in all three topics. I want to do Economics, because I feel it is a broad subject, so I am not putting all of my eggs in one basket at an early part in my life. I also appreciate the links I can find between different topics and I feel Economics plays to my academic strengths of English, Maths, History and Geography.
What advice would you have for pupils / parents considering The Ryleys School?
Before Ryleys, I was at two local state schools. A single term in, the difference was clear. The teachers were enthusiastic and they taught you as an individual, so my personal needs were met. I was stretched educationally and given the opportunity to expand my own understanding of the world around me, because there was never a glass ceiling to my education at the Ryleys. It was always about the individual and allowed me to challenge not only myself, but also my teachers, and I was always encouraged to ask more questions - the attitude you need to get in to the top secondary schools and onward to the top universities.
I’ve had regular contact with The Ryleys since I left, and I hope this will continue, as I follow my dream to Cambridge and onwards to whatever is in store for my future!
If you were a pupil at The Ryleys School, we'd love to hear from you. Please do drop us a message us on using the form below to and we'll get in touch with you for your story: