ST Christopher's CE High School, Accrington

SCHOOL MISSION: St Christopher's is a Church of England High School where pupils and staff work together in the knowledge and love of God. We try to act out our faith in our daily lives, with Christ as our example.

We seek to promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, intellectual and physical development of all our pupils within a caring and supportive community, preparing them as Christians for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of their adult life.

HOW MANY STUDENTS: We have 950 pupils. This year 300 put us down as their first-choice school, but our admission number is just 168. Those who are not offered places often appeal.

HISTORY LESSON: St Christopher's was opened in 1958. Most primary schools in this district are founded and run by the Church of England, but until then there was no secondary school. The school has grown gradually over the years, adding to its buildings to accommodate the additional numbers.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Work will start in January to build a new science laboratory, general classroom and chapel, to be opened in the early summer. We have just installed a new computer network costing £60,000, providing the latest machines and connections to the internet from many parts of the school.

STAR STUDENTS: All our pupils who do their best are stars. This year, for example, our Ofsted report on the performance of our pupils put us in the top 10 per cent of schools, giving us a Grade A for our overall performance in the key stage three tests.

At GCSE 30 per cent more pupils gained five grades A-C than would be expected from their ability at age 11. Julie Addison, who gained 10 As, received a special letter of congratulation for gaining one of the top five marks in the country in her GCSE maths. And we are just as pleased for Katy Spencer, Robert Moss, Ailsa Tyreman and many others whose grades were their very best.

OUT AND ABOUT: In the last 15 months pupils from St Christopher's have been on no fewer than seven foreign visits, to Germany on a language visit, sightseeing in New York, skiing in Italy, and on two concert tours to Spain and Paris. In September, staff and pupils celebrated 25 years of French exchange visits to our partner school in the Ardennes.

SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT: We are proud of the achievements of all our pupils, in the classroom and in the many extra curricular activities in which they are all involved, including those which have contributed to our being a Sportsmark school. But we do not want to brag about any of them because we can always see things we can do better.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH £100,000?: We would build a sports hall. Although £100,000 is not enough on its own, we have access to government grants which would cover the full cost. We need a sports hall because we only have a gymnasium and a hall which is often used for exams and other activities like drama.