THE head of a Catholic girls school has hit out at vandals and burglars who have caused more than £60,000 damage to school property over the last two years.

Now St Hilda's RC High School, Burnley, with the help of Burnley Council and the police, is getting closed circuit cameras to try to deal with the problem. Head teacher Miss Bernadette Bleasdale, asked parents to write to Lancashire County Council to voice their concerns and appealed for politicians to provide enough resources for education.

The vandalism was all the more upsetting, she said, because the school has undergone major re-building work over the year and staff have already moved into new Art, Science, Food Technology, Modern Languages and Information Technology suites. "We are still awaiting Design, Graphics, Textiles and the new gymnasium to be completed before we can think about what we'd like to do next and, believe you me, ideas are already in the pipeline," added Miss Bleasdale.

She told parents that this year's exam results were the best in the school's history, with 69 per cent of pupils getting at least five A star to C passes in their GCSEs. She added that Catholicism was at the root of the school's success. "The heart and lifeblood of our school is truly our shared faith," she said. "Catholic schools are successful because of it.

"In St Hilda's, religion and real life easily and happily mix. An example of this is the vast amount of charity work carried out lovingly by all, which last year raised over £7,000."

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