Oakbank School headteacher John Roberts says he is looking forward to the future as an 11-18 year school and is confident staff will make it a success.He was speaking on Wednesday at the school's annual presentation evening where prizes were presented by BBC TV weatherman and former Oakbank pupil Paul Hudson.

During what was the last presentation evening as a grant-maintained school, he told the audience: "The six years as a GM school had been well worth the struggle to break free of Bradford and the personal abuse that had been directed his way. Money had been spent more cost effectively, there had been more teachers and more resources." He paid tribute to the governing body who had taken on extra responsibilities and 'done a tremendous amount of hard work'. He also praised the unanimity of the Bradford headteachers in their current campaign to get Bradford's education into the classsroom for the direct benefit of young people.

Talking about the prizewinners, he said: "They have all shown great qualities of hard work, initiative and a desire to achieve well - in work, sport and community activities." Mr Roberts said that the school's production of the musical Grease had been a highlight of the year as had the award of Sportsmark Gold. Results, especially in English and design technology, had dramatically improved. A level results were again excellent and mentoring and target setting had been more focused.

He went on to say that European links had been forged with schools in Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. There had been trips to France and Germany. Many sports teams had won championships and there had been excellent individual performances. "I am confident the satff, who are very experienced in adapting to change and rising to challenges, will make it a success. A major thrust of the school would be to create opportunities for students to learn and use leadership and teamwork skills, initiatives and independence." The following awards were presented:

G. Cadman Prizes: Dance, Lucy Mitchell, Rachel Winterburn, Claire Jones; GNVQ, Fiona Early, Tom Kennedy, Andrew Lowe, Philip Coward; Business Studies, Fern Morris, Carrie Broster, Tracey Briggs; IT, Phillipa Nolan, Richard Hogg; IT and Maths, David Sloane; Drama and Humanities, Joanne Whitaker; Drama, Claire Slater.

Shackleton Prizes: Service and Maths, Peter Howarth; Service, Robert Munnoch; Media Studies and English, Andrew Willoughby; Media Studies, Stephanie Tanner, Tim Roache.

H Foulds Prize: PE, James Rutherford.

AR Harrison Prizes: English, James Fawcett, Junessa Chowdhury, David Prince.

Alderman Smith Prizes: D&T and Humanities, Darah Brooksbank; Textiles, Science and Maths, Judith Dredge; Science, Abigail Hardy.

McDonald Prizes: Science, Kate Gower; Music and Science, Peter Marshall; Maths, Kirsty Hodson.

LM Stockdale Prizes: D&T, Rebecca Saxton; D&T, PE and Maths, Adrian Lonsdale; D&T and Art, Cheryl Bates; Food and Humanities, Rochelle Scrivener; Food, Amy Hogg, Rachel Smith,, Amy Thompson.

Ernest Marsden Prize: Drama, Ria Tubman.

Eluned Williams Journey Prize: Peggy Illingworth.

Bedford Prize: Science, Matthew Hollings.

Percy Taylor Prizes. Art, Dean Payton, Bethany Parker, Fozia Akhtar.

Appleyard Prizes: English, Hazel Hopkinson, Mark Hamilton-Wilson, James Baldwin.

Drake and Tonson Prizes: Study Skills, Louise Shutt, Emma Graham, Wayne Mahomet; Music, Kirsty Bennett, Alix Shepherd, Danny Leonard, Catherine Hudson.

1945 Prizes: Humanities, Robert Rogerson, James Myers, Tracey Hodgson, Fiona Gavagan, Abdul Kayum, Sarah Woollard, Ammar Khalil.

GA Milner Prizes: PE, Rachelle Houldsworth, Joe Farrar, Tim Hird, Jodie Shiel, Fiona Firth, Jenny Lawrence, Tony Hudson, Anna Whittock.

Sir Swire Smith Prizes: Peer Education: Hafsana Khatun, Samantha Clewes, Sobia Aktar, Alex Cottam, Shabina Azad.

Waterhouse Prize: Progress, Claire Rogerson.

Craven Laycock Prize: English, Science and Humanities, Eleanor Godden; Humanities, Sam Dilworth.

R Calverly Prizes: Vocational Curriculum, Ian Dade, Sarah Jury, Aftab Khan.

FW Quarmby Prize: English, Kathryn Brown.

JM Horsfall Prize: Music anbd Peer Education, Laura Hanson.

B Holmes Prizes: Music, Tristan Partridge, Anna Foxon; Art, Josie Raine, Sarah Carruthers.

Hughill Prize: Maths, Eleanor Blakelock.

Briggs Shakespeare Prize: English, Tina Rock.

Carnegie Prize: PE and Sport, Tania Gunputh.

Team of the Year: Year 11 Football, Graham Smith, Jack Curtis, Liam Houldsworth, David Nelson, James Whittam, James Rutherford, Joe Blacka, Paul O'Gara, Tom Applebee, Ian Dade, David Alderson, Daniel Peel, Tim HIrd, Adrian Lonsdale, Luke Harrison.

Commendation certificates for their contributions to Grease: James Mawdsley, Michael Etherington, Paul Houldsworth, Nathan Manthrop, Chris Tomlinson, Mary Long, Laura Hanson, Sally Brewster, Kirsty Bennett, Holly Williams, Claire Cardwell, Jonathan Roe, Joanna Christian, Laura Hockenhull, Simon Shorten, Anne Thomas, Lucy Mitchell.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.