A HEADTEACHER has celebrated his school's achievement in becoming one of the top-performing educational establishments in the country.

At last night's annual prize giving ceremony, Witton High School head John Gosling told parents and pupils how the school had come in the top two per cent nationally for academic improvement.

And he told students there was no shame in doing well at school. He urged them to keep up the good work, saying: "It is OK to do well and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

The school in Buncer Lane, Blackburn, ended on a high note last term after being selected as a High Value School by the Department for Education and Skills - achieving some of the best academic improvements from the age of 11 to 16 in the country.

Mr Gosling added that high value had been achieved in a number of ways - not just academically.

He praised the Year 9 cricket team, and player Anmar Mirza for representing Lancashire; pupils Carly Thompson and Leigh Lennon for being town cross country champions, and netballer Hollie Smith for representing the county.

In addition the school has won a host of accolades from educational authorities, the City Learning Centre status, made a Pathfinder School for Enterprise Education, won recognition in the Achievement Awards 2002 and achieved the Careers Quality Standards.

AWARDS

HEADTEACHER'S Award, Emma Shand; Governors' Award, Christopher Davies, Farhana Badat; Shabirakhter Patel - Science Prize, Paul Winstanley, Farhana Badat; Capita Business Prize, Clare Stokes; East Lancs Tile Company - Sports Prize, Heather Davies; George Kirby - Sports Prize, Lee Eccles; Attendance, Imran Deshmukh. Year 9: Form Tutor Prize for Effort and Progress, 9HD Scott Parker, Salma Mulla, 9MP Christine Morton, Christopher Fox, 9JH Alexandra Haworth, Shabana Kalu, 9AWI Nathan Hadfield, Dena Holland, 9ER Karla Smith, James Gaul, 9CF Lisa Southworth, Nicola Graham, 9MPA Michael Alker, Mariam Safdar, 9LJ Lucy Halliwell, Paul Lewis-Loynds. 100 per cent Attendance, Sobia Rahman, Stacey Edwards, Lauren Murnin.

Subject prizes: German, Hyaas Kalu; French, Shabana Kalu; EPA Art, Dena Holland; D&T, Steven Preston; RE, Sinead Cassidy; BICT, Nathan Hadfield; Maths, Suhail Karolia; English, Samira Patel; EPA Music, Aleaxandra Haworth; Science, Oveis Patel; SEN/Literacy, Andrew Wallbank; PE (MPO), Carly Thompson, Matthew Andrew; Geography, Lauren Murnin; Histor, Daniel Crossley

Special awards: For nominations in four different subject areas, Dena Holland, Alexandra Haworth. Year 10. Form Tutor Prize for Effort and Progress, 10AWA Christopher Poynton, David Catley; 10SD, Michael Tillotson, Laura Armstrong; 10RL Faythe Halsall, Denis Maxwell; 10LR Farha Khan, Ismall Chothia; 10DG Timothy Andrews, Kelly Clegg; 10MGI Andrew Hall, Gemma Booth; 10LS Jordan Winnard, Nikki Riley; 10CL Charlotte Doyle, Sara Shah; 10AE Kerry Roberts, Mohammed Mulla; 10LH Yasmeen Bhamji, Imtiaz Brepotra; 100 per cent Attendence, Nicola Pickup, Sara Shah, Luke Ainsworth, Mohammed Mulla, Heloise McHugh.

Subject prizes: German, Faythe Halsall; French, Jennifer Gaul:

EPA Art, Ashley Littler, Katja Porter: D&T Food, Ruby Exton; Textiles, Laura Walker; Graphics, Bekki Hodkinson: Resistant Materials, Ian Stanley; BICT, Yasmeen Bhamji; Maths, Shamin Laher; English, Denis Maxwell; EPA/Music, Monique Brown; Science, Michael Tillotson; SEN/Literacy, Edwin Hamer; PE, Kelly Clegg. Oliver Lomax; Geography, Smiera Yousaf; History, Luke Bennett.

Special award, for nominations in four different subject areas, Faythe Halsall.

Year 11 pupils who gained 5 or more GCSEs at Grade A*-C,

Zaeem Ahmed, Adil Amin, Sajeda Amir, Farhana Badat, Gemma Berry, Joseph Birch, Lisa Chadwick, Nargis Chand, Amit Chudasama, Samantha Cowley, Christopher Davies, Heather Davies, Susan Dean, Adam Desai, Alison Dickinson, Kieran Docherty, Andrew Dunn, Joanne Duxbury, Lee Eccles, Lee Egan, Adele Forster, Nicholas Fowler, Jennifer Griffin, Alan Halstead, Ian Haslam, Kerry Higham, John Holden, Sima Iqhal, Ismail Issat, Shameena Jogee, Keeley Johnson, Krishna Kaur, Jodie Kelly, Farrah Khan, Rehana Khansia, Yusuf Makda, Natty Martin, Laura Mashita, Asma Matak, John McAlary, Curtis McKenna, David Metcalfe, Adam Mirza, Kelly Morris, Fatima Mulla, Ibrahim Mulla, Junaid Mulla, Zuber Mulla, Kieran Noblet, Bilal Patel, Mohammed Patel, Yasmeen Patel, Craig Pearson, Beverley Place, Gail Preece, Rhiane Reid, Kirsty Riding, Samantha Riley, Julie-Anne Root, Clare Ryan, Aftab Sarwar, Emma Scholes, Emma Shand, Alexandre Sharracks, Shamima Sidat, Sharlene Smalley, Clare Stokes, Lee Tatters, Lauren Taylor, Katie Waddington, Azhar Waqas, Carley Welding, Louise White, Ben Wignall, Paul Winstanley, Shabnam Yousaf.