FIFTY years of education, faith and success are being celebrated by St Michael's School and some special guests have been invited to join in the jubilee events.

On Friday, September 23, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly visited the Roman Catholic school in High Elms Lane, Garston, for a tour and question and answer session with the pupils.

She said she was impressed by what she saw.

She said: "It is an incredibly good school and it is adding lots of value to the children here. It is now achieving extremely good GCSE results, with an increased number of children achieving five A* to C grades and it is one of the most improved schools in the country. It is wonderful to see what can be done with good leadership, dedication and commitment from the staff and teachers and hard work from the pupils.

"They have shown me the new ICT suite today, the new astroturf and the new block, which are in the process of being built. There is a lot happening and, as a result, you can see the children doing better and achieving more."

The school was founded by the Dominican Sisters and began with 21 members of staff, led by headteacher Mother Ursula.

Building work carried on around the lessons over the first few weeks and the building was officially opened by Bishop Craven on September 29, 1956.

As the school's achievements and recognition grew, so did their pupil numbers. It got to the point where some lessons were being held in cloakrooms because of the lack of space. There have been numerous extensions and new blocks constructed since then, and astroturf is currently being added.

Today, the school has 1,030 students and more than 100 members of staff.

On Wednesday, September 28, they all joined together, along with invited guests and former staff, headteachers and pupils, for a Mass, led by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Other jubilee events planned included a sponsored walk around the school, on Friday, September 30, and a gala evening on Saturday, October 1.

Headteacher John Murphy said: "It is a great honour to have the Secretary of State and the Cardinal visit our school. I am very proud of the school and these visits are a sign of our success. The most important people in the school are the children and the focus of Ruth Kelly's visit was a question and answer session with them. That engages them with the political agenda and politics in general."

The school has always had an ethos to help others and, during their jubilee year, they are fundraising for a clinic in Rwanda. Mr Murphy and two other members of staff have visited the clinic, which specialises in the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS. The school has launched a "Life for Life" campaign, whereby every member of the St Michael's community must endeavour to raise enough to save a life, through charitable efforts in the jubilee year.

The fundraising is carried out in an educational context, with pupils learning about the history and culture of Rwanda and the plight of people living there.

The icing on the cake in the school's jubilee year has been a successful Ofsted report, which was published in May.

Inspectors summed the school up as "a very good school, with many excellent features".