A HEADTEACHER has paid tribute to one of his students who died just days after going to his high school prom.

In a newsletter at the end of term headteacher Alan Porteous wrote about 16-year-old Tom Gallagher who had attended Bacup and Rawtenstall High School.

The youngster’s body was found in Old Kays Park earlier this month.

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He said: “It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of one of our Year 11 students, Tom Gallagher.

“Tom was an exceptional student who had great intellectual curiosity and an enquiring mind; he never stopped questioning in a search for deeper levels of understanding.

“Tom was well liked within school and always willing to talk.

“Academically, he was very strong and had recently successfully completed his GCSEs, with high expectations of a superb set of results this summer.

“Tom was planning to return to our sixth form in September to study A-Levels in mathematics, further mathematics, German and physics.

“In the longer term he was hoping to continue to study these subjects at Oxford.

“He will be sadly missed by students and staff alike from the school community.

“Tom’s family are in all our thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time.”