THE headmaster of Radcliffe High School sung the praises of staff and pupils at their annual prize-giving ceremony, as he urged parents to dismiss the myth that there were better schools in Bury.

The ceremony took place at the Abden Street school on the same day that GCSE league tables were announced. Radcliffe High School was placed bottom locally, but far from avoiding the fact, Mr Graham Rollinson confronted it head on.

"Schools, parents and employers should not fall into the trap of looking at statistics alone, because schools are not solely about academic success as defined in the by now discredited league table system, which concentrates solely on raw and often misleading data," he said.

"Success is measured in many ways and all of it is relative. I do not subscribe to the view that five A*-C grades is the magic figure which delineates success. Try telling that to the pupils or the parents of the pupils who worked as hard as anyone else and achieved one GCSE, or nine GCSEs at A*-G." Students who left the school in the summer were present to collect their GCSE certificates, and current pupils who have achieved distinction in their work were also recognised. The principal of Holy Cross College, Mr Mike O'Hare, was the guest of honour.

Mr Rollinson said he wished to concentrate on celebrating not only the success of the pupils, but also the quality of teaching and the learning experiences offered to pupils.

Apart from academic achievements, the school has had another stimulating year with trips to France, the Lake District and the Peak District. Pupils have raised hundreds of pounds for local, national and international charity appeals, and many of them have helped with the wheelchair dancing group which uses the school twice a week.

Stressing the fact that Radcliffe High is a 21st century school, Mr Rollinson reminded those present that the school had applied to become a technology college.

"This will allow us to improve our technology facilities as well as open up our school and our resources to the community, to primary schools, to sixth form colleges and to local businesses.

He revealed that £50,000 has to be raised in private sponsorship in order to receive £350,000 from the Government. The good news is that the school already has more than £35,000 in agreed sponsorship.

The school has seen £135,000 of improvements to classrooms and the dining room, in addition to a doubling of money invested in classroom resources. There are also two new ICT suites.

A new food technology suite is to be built from next January, the library will have a £24,000 investment over the next three years, and nine more classrooms will be decorated in addition to the 11 that have already been revamped.

Mr Rollinson thanked the teaching staff, the special support assistants, and the wider support teams for their professionalism, their commitment, their hard work, their expertise and dedication without whom the abilities and talents of the pupils may have remained untapped. He also said it was equally important to recognise the part parents play as partners with the school in the education of their children.