EXAM results were better than ever this year at an Accrington school but pupils' spiritual development was just as important, according to headteacher Katrina Ryan.

Speaking at Mount Carmel RC High School awards evening last night, Miss Ryan said 52 per cent of pupils gained five or more GCSE grades A to C this year, up from 36 per cent in 1998.

Miss Ryan said: "This was indeed an excellent outcome, the result of a great deal of hard work by both students and teachers.

"We cannot deny the importance of examination results, however as a Catholic school we believe we should also be concerned with raising aspirations, the opportunities and challenges of leading a faith community into the next century, and with the development of the whole person who will play a responsible role in the community."

Miss Ryan said the school had taken part in many religious activities in the past year including a special assembly organised by an Amnesty group to mark the signing of the universal Declaration of Human Rights last year.

Pupils spent activity holidays in the Lake District and Anglesey, and also visited the battlefields of the Somme in Northern France, where they laid a wreath to commemorate the Accrington Pals.

Lord David Alton, a former MP, also spoke at the awards evening and presented a new citizenship award, designed by Liverpool sculptor Stephen Broadbent, to year ten pupil William Willis.

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