THE headteacher of Witton Park High School opened the annual awards evening by announcing another record-breaking year.

John Gosling said that nearly 60 per cent of the pupils who took their GCSE's in June gained five a more passes at grade A*-C.

And he said the school's recent Ofsted Inspection praised the school for its 'team effort', 'good teaching and warm sense of community'.

He made the announcement to parents of former Year 11 pupils in the school's packed South Hall and praised the students and teachers for their hard work. He said they were an able year group who had an excellent collective attitude to school and their studies.

Mr Gosling said the results represented a trend of improvement which went back over a decade, but year groups varied tremendously and there would inevitably be peaks and troughs.

The certificates were presented by former student and Blackburn dental surgeon Shabirakhtar Patel.

Headteacher's Award: Lucy Fisher, Anisa Patel, Rachel Waywell, Sameena Zia, Rukhsana Deshmukh. Governors' Award: Alexander Towneley, Sarah Talbot, Latanya Hodgkinson, Iain Bould, Zafer Mulla. Science Award: Rukhsana Deshmukh, Zafer Mulla. Attendance: Rukhsana Deshmukh.