STUDENTS and staff are celebrating after two North-East Catholic schools were awarded the ultimate accolade pushing them into the realms of world-leading status.

Carmel College Darlington and Cardinal Hume Catholic School, Gateshead, have moved beyond the ‘Outstanding’ rating of Ofsted to become World Class Schools.

The coveted accreditation, enjoyed by only a handful of schools in the UK, was awarded formally at a glittering ceremony at the Governors’ Hall, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, by Professor Chris Bonell, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Both schools’ reputations went before them and they were nominated for the award by colleagues from other parts of the country.

Heads of year nominated pupils to be considered for World Class School working teams, the successful candidates being chosen by interview.

A team of Carmel students including Francis Humble, Chloe Lubuku, Anna Shorten, George Thornton, Carmen Del Zotto and Joshua Connor set to work auditing every aspect of school life against a checklist of more than 50 standards that a school needs to achieve World Class School status.

They delved into the curriculum to check it was relevant, accessible and would engender a love of learning in a range of subjects from maths and science to performing arts and extra-curricular activities.

WCSQM director Miranda Perry said: “It was tremendous to see how positively students from Year 6 to Year 13 worked together to achieve their goals.

2We were incredibly impressed with the high standards of their work and you can absolutely see why they were nominated as being world class.

“Many secondary schools in England already judged outstanding by Ofsted have moved beyond this judgement.

“They have improved student progress, aspiration and achievement to such an extent that their standards rival those of the best schools internationally.”