A BURNLEY high school has scooped a prestigious award for being a bully-free zone.

Students at Sir John Thursby Community College have achieved the Lancashire Anti-Bullying Charter, and also been named as a Unicef ‘Rights Respecting School’.

The school is thought to be just one of a handful in the North West to have achieved the global accolade from Unicef.

To gain both local and global recognition, students wrote an anti-bullying charter, which is displayed around school. An email address has also been set up to help any student having problems. A video for parents, and carers, has also been developed for the school website.

The school then carried out a survery of Year 9 pupils who said there was no bullying among them, or their friends. They also said if anything happened, they were confident about who they should go to, and that it would be resolved.

Assistant headteacher Helen Campbell, who organised the scheme, said they wanted to show how friendly their school was.

She said: “We are a school where everyone gets on well together, and we wanted to show that.

“We’ve never have had an issue with bullying, but that’s no reason to not work hard to make sure all our children are safe.

“We are proud of the way students of all nationalities, disabilities, and abilities, of any race, colour and creed work together.”

Headteacher David Burton said: “We are delighted that our students’ great attitudes have been recognised. In March, Ofsted told us our behaviour is good and students feel safe, students show a positive attitude to their lessons, and disruptions are rare.

"Ofsted also said our students are polite and respectful to adults, so we want to keep raising standards so every student becomes a great citizen.”