CARNFORTH High School has thrown open its doors to sixth formers for the first time in its 50 year history.

More than 30 former pupils have sharpened their pencils and donned new blazers to join the north Lancashire school’s first ever Year 12 class.

Head teacher John Shannon said creating the sixth form had been a dream of his for over six years and the reaction so far from pupils and their parents had been ‘extremely enthusiastic’.

“The atmosphere at the school is incredible now,” he said. “Our pupils have always asked for a sixth form and we’ve been able to meet that need as well as provide younger pupils with an aspirational environment. They can see what lies ahead and our sixth form will be an inspiration - it really is an incredibly exciting time.”

The sixth form boasts one of the most extensive range of courses in Lancashire after teaming up with Central Lancaster High School, Heysham High School and Our Lady’s Catholic College in a new federation.

“We’ve synched our timetables so that pupils can travel between all of the sites to make sure they have access to far more courses than we could provide on our own,” said Mr Shannon. “This way no-one misses out on the combination of subjects they are after.”

As well as a range of A-level subjects and BTec level 3 courses, including sport, Carnforth will be the specialist sixth form for hair and beauty and construction.

The school was granted permission to create a sixth form from the Government in May and its expanded provision will ensure that there will be enough school places available for pupils in north Lancashire when the school leaving age is raised to 18 in 2013.

It will also keep pupils within the county who previously completed their studies over the border in Cumbria.

Mr Shannon said: “Our Year 11 pupils have an unusually high amount of choice when it comes to chosing a sixth form but if they stay at Carnforth they get the continuity of teachers and environment.

“We will always encourage our students to look around at other places but I think there is now a brilliant opportunity in Carnforth for students to take their studies further.”

This year around a third of the school’s Year 11 students stayed on for the newly-created Carnforth Sixth Form but it can cater for up to 100 students.