OLYMPIC silver medallist Samantha Murray was guest speaker at Mount Carmel RC High School’s annual Awards Evening.

Samantha, who won her medal in the modern pentathlon at London 2012, spoke of how her dedication, consistent hard work and determination to be successful in her sport helped her at the Olympics.

Headteacher Xavier Bowers congratulated the former pupils of the Wordsworth Road school in Accrington on their best ever results for the school. He said 99 per cent achieved at least one A*-C GCSE grade, 75 per cent achieved five A*-C passes and 54 per cent achieved five A*-C grades including English and maths.

He said: “Like Olympic medals, good GCSE qualifications do not come easy. I hope you all feel the hard work, effort and revision for your exams paid off.”

Mr Bowers praised staff for their support, dedication and professionalism over the academic year since he and deputy head Ivan Catlow were appointed.

He stated that the recent OFSTED ‘good in all aspects’ inspection report reflected the hard work of all staff and said he hoped Mount Carmel would receive an outstanding report over the coming years.

Mr Bowers congratulated Samantha, whose mother is an assistant headteacher, on her achievement at the Olympics and wished her every success in her preparations for the World Championships and at the next Olympics in Brazil.

SPECIAL AWARDS

Dominic Sanderson trophy – Gloria Mathew; Learning Resource Centre trophy – Joshua Warburton; A M Foley award – Clegg Bamber; Rebecca Robinson award – Waqar Khan; PTA prize – Ayesha Khan; St Anne’s Parish award for expressive arts – Joel Hernon; PTA music trophy – Mollie Hogan; Christine Almond trophy – Daniel Holden; Jane Greenhough shield – Nadia Walton; Agnes Molloy sheild – Max Butler; Sisters of Mercy sheild – Anthony Black; Headteacher’s award – Cameron Haken and Lucy Fitzpatrick; The Fred Bentley prize – Grace McDonough; The Peter Barratt trophy – Holly McKinney; The Nicola Hughes trophy – Joseph Shields; The Ken Hargreaves memorial trophy – Cristofer Morante; Dean Stack trophy – Daniel Leech; Parent teacher trophy – Carla-Jayne Taylor; Sporting endeavour Shield – Ciara Borwick; Duke of Edinburgh trophy – Jacob Boyle; Good citizenship award – Ben Cawley and Jennifer Reed; Dean Desmond memorial award – Mr Paul Robinson; a retired teacher with 34 years of service and dedication to Mount Carmel.