The last year at the College is one that will live in the memory for a long time.

The fire at the swimming pool in February was a devastating blow, particularly to all of the local people who have worked so hard to build, improve and maintain it. The good news is that builders are on site and rebuilding should be completed in January. The new pool will be even better than the old one and will have improved access for disabled users. The gym and fitness suite have remained open for business and are going strong.

More cheerful news last year was that the College was named in Parliament on the Chief Inspector's list of the 60 most outstanding secondary schools in England and Wales - this made us very proud.

In the recent GCSE examinations pupils once again performed at a very high level: the number of pupils who passed 5 or more GCSEs at Grade C or higher was over 60% for the 5th year in succession; 87% gained at least one 'C' pass, with 99% passing examinations at all levels. There were success stories from pupils of all abilities and there were some very happy faces when results were collected in August.

Languages results showed the biggest increase this year, with 50% achieving a 'C' in French and 63% in German. We have been working hard to convince all of our pupils that it is really important to be able to speak a foreign language and that this can be very helpful in the world of work. The message is getting through.