AN OSWALDTWISTLE school has officially launched its new status as a specialist in business and enterprise - with help from a Darwen firm.

Rhyddings High School found out its bid to become a specialist college had been successful in September and it celebrated its success at a special launch event.

Headteacher Barry Burke said the hardest part had been raising the £50,000 needed to support the bid.

He said: "The community we serve is not very affluent and so we got to a point where we had raised half the money we needed and couldn't get any further. It was Bestway cash and carry in Darwen that came to our rescue and donated £25,000. That gave us the go-ahead to submit the bid and get the status."

The £50,000 the school has raised will be doubled by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and this money will be used to equip a new building and learning resource centre currently under construction at the school's Haworth Street site with computer and other technology.

This facility, which also includes new classrooms and meeting rooms, will also be available for use by the community. The school will also attract extra government funding each year, based on the number of pupils at the school, to progress the specialism.

Mr Burke said: "We have managed to move up the league tables by generating a curriculum that is real and relevant to our kids and we have done that by linking with the world of business.

"In the last academic year we had 75per cent of the students in year 11 getting five or more A to C grades. When I look at the kids and the area that we are dealing with that is a real achievement. The launch was attended by the Mayor of Hyndburn, Councillor Miles Parkinson, and Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for education, Councillor Alan Whittaker.