FURIOUS pupils from All Hallows RC High have leapt to the defence of their school following last week's front page.
Determined Year 11 students Nichola Arrowsmith and Kristina Lisle, both 15, were so infuriated they felt their school had been "slated" they hit back and wrote to the Macclesfield Express determined to restore the proud All Hallow's reputation.
The chums, who said they were "shocked" at the headteacher's resignation, defended their school and its standard of education, interviewing classmates, parents and teachers.
Kristina, of Gleave Avenue, Bollington, said: "Even though our school has been slated we are staying united as a community and are determined to restore our name as second best in Macclesfield. This shows how strong we are and it shows that we disagree with the Ofsted report and what is being said by the newspaper."
Nichola, of Moss Road, Congleton, said: "All Hallows is a fantastic school and it proves this through its GCSE and A Level results. We are still the second best school in Macclesfield and one of the finest schools in Cheshire even though we believe the Ofsted report states otherwise. We don't actually know what was written in the report as yet, and neither does the Express, because it has not been published.
"Although we don't know who the so-called 'insider' is, they probably have had only one bad experience in the school with a class, and have not seen the excellence of the school.
"There is never a perfect person or school, it is just a shame that our supposed problems have been noticed in the Ofsted report, a report that only the former head and new head have only just seen.
"We do admit that Ofsted came at the wrong time for our school to shine as it normally would because of the extensive new building work being done, and we also have the addition of three new deputy heads who had only just taken up their posts. They are working hard at the moment to resolve the problems that we may be having.
"If we are supposedly not receiving an acceptable standard of education then how did we get 68.5 per cent of five passes at A* to C at GCSE level and an average point score of 322 per pupil at A Level - both above the national average. We can't go from as good as that to 'failing' in the short amount of time from August to September!"
Nichola whose younger sister Rachael, who has just started at All Hallows said the new Year 7s now "felt guilty" and Year 8s vowed to carry on working as hard with "great facilities and teachers".
Year Nine pupils defended All Hallows as "a high quality organization" with a nice, friendly atmosphere and supportive teachers.
Students from Year Ten claimed "pupils that were unteachable had been expelled some time ago" and Year 11 felt it was "unfair that the pupils and the school as a whole are judged on the fact that one person resigned, off his own back."
Sixth Formers said: "The standard of education has not changed in our years at the school, it is still excellent."
The teenagers take their GCSEs next year and both want to stay on at All Hallows Sixth Form studying for A Levels, because they say they are happy there and feel the education is well above average.
All Hallows scored 98 per cent of five or more A* to G passes at GCSE, not A* to C as reported last week.
