THE headteacher of an Oswaldtwistle high school praised his students for 'demolishing' a target for GCSE results at a ceremony last night.

Pupils and staff at Rhyddings High, Haworth Street, came in for praise during a speech by head Barry Burke, before the school awards were handed out.

Mr Burke revealed that 75 per cent of students gained five or more A* to C grade results - beating the school's unofficial target of half the pupils.

And during the ceremony, 30 trophies and 25 certificates were handed out.

In the head's introduction to the awards list, handed out as a souvenir to all who attended, he praised the pupils for their efforts.

He said: "This time last year I spoke to you about the challenge set by your predecessors - a challenge, which if met, would mean that more than half of you would reach or go beyond that benchmark of five or more A* to C.

"Being the determined bunch that you are, you didn't reach the target, instead you demolished it!"

CERTIFICATES (for outstanding commitment): art and design, Cora Sumner; business studies, Aysha Hussain; engineering, Ryan Whalley; English language, Stacey McCann; English literature, Thomas Hudghton; French, Horiya Shah; geography, Gareth Heaney; health and social care, Sabrina Parr; history, Dale Jennings; ICT, Sarah Ali; mathematics and media studies, Damian Livesey; performing arts, Jonathan Whitaker; physical education, Caroline Smithson; religious education, Horiya Shah; science double award, Damian Livesey; science single award, Katie Marsden; technology (food), Caroline Smithson; technology (graphics), Liam McMillan; technology (product design), Imran Khan; technology (resistant materials), Damian Sleddon; technology (systems), Hamza Hussain; technology (textiles), Horiya Shah; Urdu, Orungzaib Salim.

Bronze youth achievement award, Anthony Lorente.

Subject trophies (academic excellence and significant contribution to school life): art and design, Mark Lynch; business studies, Abid Javed; engineering, Matthew Holden; English language, Daniel Griffiths; English literature, Horiya Shah; French, Francesca Sanna; geography, Joanne Cook; German, Natasha Rehal; health and social care, Leah Smith; history, Rebecca Eccles; ICT, Abid Javed; mathematics, Horiya Shah; media studies, Amina Begum; performing arts, Daniel Griffiths; physical education, Christopher Nuttall; religious education, Abid Javed; science double award, Wajid Hussain; science single award, Francesca Sanna; technology (food), Rebeca Eccles; technology (graphics), Dean Taylor; technology (product design), Gemma Barnes; technology (resistant materials), Christopher Nuttall; technology (systems), Daniel Griffiths; technology (textiles), Natasha Rebal; Urdu, Mohammed Umar.