A TRIO of schools in Bolton have been congratulated by the schools minister David Laws for their first class performance.

Mr Laws has written to Bolton Muslim Girls School, Canon Slade and Mount St Joseph offering his personal congratulations following the publication of the secondary school performance tables published last month.

The three schools were the top performing local authority schools based on their GCSE examination results.

Writing to the headteachers, Mr Laws said: “I would like to congratulate your staff, governors and pupils for their hard work and success and thank you for your leadership in continuing the drive towards high standards of educational achievement.”

Mount St Joseph School in Farnworth posted record results with 71 per cent gaining five or more A* to C GCSEs including English and maths.

It was congratulated for being among the top 100 best improving schools in terms of the progress pupils make between key stage two results and their GCSEs.

Headteacher Paul Roach said: “The school is delighted to have received national recognition of the outstanding GCSE performance in the recent letter of congratulations from David Laws.

“To be identified as amongst the top 100 best improving schools nationally in terms of students’ progress is a just reward for the dedication and hard work of the students and school staff.

“The success is founded on focusing on the individual needs of students, a personalised curriculum and an ethos and values that all children can achieve their full potential.

“While this recognises the formal examination success, the school staff are dedicated to working with all the students to achieve their full potential both in the classroom and beyond.

“On a personal note I would like to thank all the staff for their support, commitment and contribution to this achievement.”