A SCHOOL has welcomed the abandonment of a Government plan to force faith schools to take in 25 per cent of pupils from others faiths or no faith.

Speaking at the annual awards evening of Mount Carmel RC High School, Accrington, headteacher Miss Katrina Ryan said: "When places are available our governors welcome children of other denominations or faiths and we also welcome the new duty placed on governing bodies to promote community cohesion.

"The mission of our Catholic school is to serve our immediate community.

"Our school's make-up reflects the needs of the neighbourhood it serves and through our teaching we seek to engender a respect for all members of society."

Concluding her speech, Miss Ryan said: "Catholic education equips its students to enter into a pluralist society with wisdom and discernment, with principles and virtues, rather than with the purely political values of tolerance and the suspension of personal judgement."

Earlier, Miss Ryan said this year's GCSE results were a testament to the teaching staff. She said many departments had improved their results, most notably religious education, history and modern foreign languages, with PE and ICT as consistently high-performing departments.

Miss Ryan also commented on £350,000 worth of improvements to the building funded through Salford Diocese including improved disabled access, double glazing, CCTV cameras and interactive white boards, She welcomed guests including Kevin McMahon, the principal of St Mary's Sixth Form College in Blackburn, who presented the prizes.

AWARDS

Role model awards for pupils' attitude, behaviour and uniform: Year 7 Rebecca Goode, Tom Anderson, Toby Singleton, Amanda Sdepanian, Christian Gallagher; Year 8 Peter Ashworth, Nicholas Talbot, Emily Grierson, Ismail Mohammed, Sarah Japp; Year 9 Johanna Hindle, Sophie Pilkington, Alexandra Davis, Robert Duffy, Rebekah Mason; Year 10 Lucy Kelly, Roxanna Stevenson, Samantha Mayor, Rachel Coates, Patrick McDonough.

Special commendations for extra-curricular activities: Kyle Ford, Megan Adams, Vikar Hussain, Emma Reidy, Peter Croft, Patrick McDonough, Sinead Regan, Danielle Higham, Stephanie Kornecki.

Aim higher champions nominated twice a year for consistent academic excellence: Year 7 Alexandra Preugschat, Clifford Appleby, Daniel McLaughlin, James Kelly, Julia Gleeson, Laura Sweeney, Thomas Anderson; Year 8 Jodie Whittaker, Peter Ashworth, Zara Shaheen; Year 9 Alicia King, Ciaran McLaughlin, Clare Cropper, Ellen Gleeson, Lauren Bolton, Mutasem Gubass, Oliver Kennedy, Rebekah Mason, Samantha Hough; Year 10, Danielle Higham, David Mulhern, Emma Reidy, Emmi Breakspear, Hayley Burke, Hayley Walsh, Kerri Taylor, Laura Maden, Li Liu, Lucy Kelly, Michael Johnson, Patrick McDonough, Peter Croft, Racheal Slater, Samantha Mayor, Sana Razaq, Sinead Regan, Stephanie Kornecki, Vikar Hussain.

Subject awards for Year 11: Art Jody Hudson, drama Lydia Anderson, English Farah Yousaf, English literature Lauren Lang, Geography Natalie Stephens, Health and Social Care Natalie Heap, History Hader Ali, ICT applied GCSE Samiari Ali, ICT GCSE Anthony Tomlinson, Mathematics Robert Wood, French Farah Yousaf, Spanish Shaun Keeney, Chinese Li Liu, Music Natalie Stephens, Religious studies GCSE Lita Smalley, Sciences Samyra Khan, Support for Learning, Effort and Improvement, John Burton, Scott Dowson, Jade Soloniewicz, Technology Electronics Robert Woods, Technology Food Lauren O'Sullivan, Technology Graphics, Martyn Sweeney.

Special awards: Dominic Sanderson award Natalie Heap; A M Foley Shield Tara Wilson; Rebecca Robinson Trophy Samiara Ali; PTA prize Lauren Lang; PTA music prize Philippa Mugan; learning resource centre award Matthew Mannion; outstanding contribution to learning resource centre award Samiara Ali and Simon Yeung; Christine Almond award Lauren O'Sullivan and Nadim Zulfiqar; St Anne's Parish prize Nicola Daley; Agnes Molloy prize, Lydia Anderson; Jane Greenhough prize, Laura Pendergast; Sisters of mercy award Yasmin Brannan; headteacher's award Matthew Mannion and Nicola Daley; Mad 4 Maths trophy presented to Daniel Earnshaw on behalf of the winning team, St Anne's and St Josephs RC Primary School.

  • THE list of award winners is incomplete due to parents refusing permission for their child to be named in the list.