SKIPTON Girls' High School headteacher Janet Renou paid tribute to the students who embarked on their GCSE year on the same day that she joined the school at the annual prizegiving on Friday.

Mrs Renou told the past pupils she would always remember them as a special set of girls, with whom she had shared both joy and sadness.

During the evening, girls, parents, staff and governors remembered Emma Yearby and Helen Barker, members of the year group who died in 2004, and pupils Charlotte Amos, who passed away last year and Amy Howard who was killed in a traffic accident this month.

Mrs Renou praised the academic and extra-curricular achievements of the students, who gained a record number of top grades in their A' Levels.

Chairman of governors, John Goodfellow, also congratulated pupils on their "stunning" results and said the school's engineering feats were gaining national prestige.

He spoke of developments within the school, including the use of mixed school-year tutor groupings, partnership working with Leeds Metropolitan University, and the closure of the PTA (Parent Teacher Association).

Mr Goodfellow said the PTA had provided the school with many facilities, but had been forced to disband due to a lack of officers.

He also spoke of the proposed changes to the school's status.

Skipton Girls' High School is currently voluntary controlled within North Yorkshire County Council's local education authority, but governors are considering becoming independent by giving the school foundation status.

Mr Goodfellow said there were several benefits, including tighter reins on admission, and a final decision will be announced in the new year.

He outlined priorities for the forthcoming year as continued academic achievement, development in teaching and learning, and a strategy for premises and accommodation.

He added: "But we don't live in an economic or political vacuum, and there are things happening outwith the school which will inevitably impinge on our life in the school, and the way the governors and staff are able to do their job.

"This big picture' includes the continuing development of constructive links with the community and our partners, the expansion of our pupil numbers, locally the issues regarding admissions and selection and nationally questions about the future of grammar schools under a new or newly mandated government."

Professor Anne Gregory was guest speaker at the prizegiving. Originally a broadcast journalist, she is now the country's only full-time professor of public relations.

Prizes: Head Girl - Gemma Riley.

Deputy Head Girls - Nishat Patankarl, Amy Fawcett.

Jessie Broadbent Prize (highest academic achievement) - Rebecca Jarosz. Longden Smith Prize (best all round student) - Grace Roodhouse.

Service to the School (prize donated by Old Girls' Guild) - Esther Odida.

Jackson Bell Award (service to the school) - Nishat Patankar.

Iain Macleod Award (study overseas) - Katy Brown.

The Roper Bursary - Laura Jenkins.

Jean Walker Prize for Art - Charlotte Boon.

Helen Hogg Prize for Engineering - Esther Odida.

Miss Wood Art Prize (Year 11) - Josephine Drake.

Monica Sanderson Prize for English - Natalie Holden, Shahnaz Ahsan.

Felicia Larner Prize for Drama - Gillian Johnson.

Enid Wise Prize for Mathematics - Lisa Meegan. The Parker Cup for Outstanding Achievement on Piano - Gillian Enzor.

The Olive Harries Trophy for Languages - Rosie Wardle.

Individual Attainment Awards -Kaylee Scothern, Laura Hague, Somia Rashid.

Subject prizes: Art and Design - Harriet Smith.

Biology - Kayleigh Johnson.

Business Studies - Lindsay Clark.

Chemistry - Catherine Blackwell.

Design Technology - Harriet Smith.

English Language - Heather Iqbal.

French - Esther Odida.

General Studies - Rachel Murphy.

Geography - Anna Binns.

German - Rebecca Jarosz.

History - Sarah Boothman.

Music - Gillian Enzor.

Physics - Victoria Sutherland.

Psychology - Helen Turnock.

Year 11 Food Technology - Colette McColgan.

Government and Politics - Shahnaz Ahsan.

Archaeology - Rebecca Jarosz.

PE - Tierney Maude.

Year 11 Prizes for all-round achievement at GCSE - Viveka Biswas, Roisin Blake, Rosie Brockett, Emily Burns, Hannah Cameron, Sophie Cass, Laura Dixon, Josephine Drake, Frances Elliott, Jessica Firth, Lucy Gains, Lydia Gomersall, Rachel Gulliver, Ceri Hall, Jennifer Hilton, Rebecca Hutchinson, Bethany Jackson, Bryony Jarvis-Taylor, Eithne Kane, Zoe Kelly, Helen Martin, Kathryn Pollitt, Holly Ramsden, Abigail Sharpe, Rosalind Smith.

Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards - Natalie Holden, Jenny Latham, Victoria Sutherland. Sarah Crabtree, Emma Brown, Lisa Meegan. Esther Odida, Katy Brown, Natasha Lister, Grace Roodhouse.