FOURTEEN-year-old Kelly Whittle has been testing her business skills ready to sell stationery.

And she is one of a growing number of pupils in East Lancashire's specialist business and enterprise colleges who are running real-life business projects.

Fifteen Year 10 pupils at Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Haworth Street, Oswaldtwistle, launched their own business last week.

Super Stationery is running independently of the school, with a separate business bank account, and hopes to be profit-making by Christmas.

Pupils from the school were invited to a share sale launch to buy £1 shares to investors to kick start cash flow.

It is the latest and biggest in a series of entrepreneurial ideas from the specialist school.

Plans started this July and gathered pace from September. The pupils all have different sales, marketing and financial roles.

Stephanie Brewerton, head of student support, said: "We hope we have found a niche market and will be buying stock from major suppliers and operating part from a specific school-based shop and from the library. The idea is to supply stationery to pupils whose pens run out during lesson time or who need books or paper.

"Pupils get a real taste for business from getting involved in something like this. It is real life and not just playing shop. It makes them learn so many skills."

Twelve months ago Ivy Bank Business and Enterprise College in Byron Street, Burnley, started a school uniform business. Pupils have been voted on to the business council. It marks the end of the consultation period with the Chamber of Commerce and designers. The new uniform became the norm in Year 7 and 10 this September.

Enterprise manager Jackie Busby said: "This is a new phase. After half term the pupils will have to take over the finance and look to engage other pupils for shares."

Andy Davidson, assistant head teacher at Rhyddings High School, believes passionately in 'keeping it real'.

"If you are going to teach students about marketing, for instance, then you have to give them something real to market," he said.

"If it's just pretend then that's all it is - a bit of pretence - and that's where many schools fall down. The bottom line is that no scenario can ever be as good as the real thing."

This philosophy led to GCSE leisure and tourism students selling five-day seaside breaks to people in Bradford earlier this year.

Other students are working in partnership with textile firm Hilden Manufacturing, of Oswaldtwistle. They have been given a genuine brief to design the packaging for a set of pillowcases and napkins that will go into production in the next few months.