THE headteacher of Edge End High School, Martin Burgess, praised his staff and pupils in helping to restore the school's reputation as one of the best in the borough.

In his ninth prize evening speech, he reflected on the school being ranked among the top 100 secondary schools in the country by the Chief Inspector of Schools, following a good Ofsted report 12 months ago.

This year's GCSE results also showed the steady progress the school is making with 32.7 per cent of pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades compared to 28.6 per cent in 1999.

Mr Burgess said during the last ten years local public opinion had turned against the school but that recent prospective parents evenings showed that "Edge End is definitely back".

He said: "Reputations are funny things to have. In my time here the school's reputation has fluctuated and changed locally quite dramatically. Long before I came, a place at Edge End was possibly the most sought after in Pendle and Burnley. Its reputation for academic success particularly in technical subjects like metalwork, woodwork and graphics was quite outstanding.

"Everyone wanted to come here and the school had 1,200 pupils crammed in to its buildings.

"By the 1990s largely through no fault of its own local public opinion had turned against the school. It ceased to be popular and others had taken its place as schools of quality."

Mr Burgess said the staff continued to do the best job they could and knew that quality work was still being done.

He said: "The resources of this school went not in to the fabric or the outward show but in to the children and the securing of their achievement. The people of Pendle began to see the quality of the work here and the popularity of the school has steadily grown."

Edge End now has up-to-date art and music departments, modernised science laboratories and computer-assisted design and manufacturing equipment, as well as access to the Internet in every classroom.

The school has also been designated by the English Cricket Board as a site for the building of a specialist cricket area subject to its Lottery bid being successful.

Guest of honour at the awards evening was Tim Webber, managing director of Barnfield Construction and a former pupil.