A HEADTEACHER hit out at the 'gross injustice' of the media's perception of schools with a hard-hitting speech at his school's presentation night.

Neil Thornley, head of Fearns High School, Stacksteads, said: "If we were to base our judgment of schools and the state of education generally by what we read in the newspapers, and I use that word advisedly, we would probably hold to a string of highly questionable assumptions."

He said people would believe teachers to be underperforming, pupils underachieving and heads and governors not being able to be trusted.

"Teachers are producing very good results often under quite unacceptable workload and pressure from Government," Mr Thornley said.

"Pupil achievement is up and up - at Fearns 100 per cent of year 11 pupils who attended achieved at least one grade at GCSE. Heads and governors are trying every way possible to mitigate workload pressures and maintain morale within an atmosphere of ever-increasing demands.

"Education appears to be the most scrutinised and accountable profession of all. When will people understand that you don't grow a pig by weighing it, or a tree by digging it up regularly to look at how its roots are doing!

"I think there is a totally understandable scepticism among teachers about politicians whose motto appears to be 'an initiative a day keeps the voters at bay.' 'Initiatives' is definitely a disease worth avoiding." Mr Thornley praised the achievements of last year's leavers and gave four pupils a special award for a 100 per cent attendance record throughout the whole of their five years and added: "Because of this, they achieved excellent results along the way."

The headteacher's special award went to the young enterprise team who swept the board at the area finals and came very close at the regional finals.

In sport Fearns also made the news and is the only Valley school running a junior sports leaders award, year 11 boys are Rossendale football champions and girls are five-a-side champions.

Mr Thornley added: "A job for life will be a decreasing luxury in the 21st Century and we must therefore be sure that our pupils have the skills to understand their world and to change it if necessary.

"That is the very important focus that we at Fearns will continue to hold and to strengthen. Our mission to provide a centre of excellence to prepare individuals for life and work in a technological age is more important now than ever before."

Chief executive of Rossendale Council Steven Hartley presented the certificates.

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