A HIGH school is looking to bring the business world into its classrooms as a specialist Business and Enterprise College.

Rhyddings, on Haworth Street, Oswaldtwistle, is preparing the bid to the Education Department for October -- a move that will net the secondary school £640,000 in government funding.

Head teacher Barry Burke said everything was in place for the bid, apart from £50,000, which has to be raised from businesses, and invited any company who wished to help to contact him.

He said the school was already bringing business into the curriculum with vocational courses, but they wanted to expand upon it and further improve links with industry.

The school also plans to offer courses for business and the general public in a new £700,000 business suite/e-learning centre to be finished by September 2004 on the Haworth Street site, funded by school, government and LEA funding.

The Business and Enterprise status is one of a number of specialisms including modern languages, performing arts and technology that schools can bid for from the Government.

Mr Burke said: "We already offer a broad curriculum and the school has formed links with the local business community -- modern employers and colleges expect school-leavers to have a real knowledge of the working world.

"This change in teaching is already underway at Rhyddings, with many schemes already in operation and others that are planned to start in September.

"Asda in Accrington are working with a group of year 11 pupils studying Health and Social Care and Applied Business and GCSE Textile and Product Design pupils are working with Hilden Textiles Mills.

"Age Concern is working with GCSE Health and Social Care pupils working with residents of Springfield Mews and Fraser Eagle, Oswaldtwistle Mills and the Leisure and Tourism pupils have joined forces to put together a package holiday for people from Bradford.

"We also have plans and have had the go ahead for a £700,000 two storey building with four teaching areas and above that is going to be an e-learning centre. Work will start at the end of this year, hopefully to be ready for September 2004."

"We hope this will be used by small firms doing courses and by the members of the public who want to do courses in IT or the Internet.

"We have a long way to go because the status is dependent on the school raising £50,000, which will be difficult. This seems unfair because it does not take into account the socio-economic situation of the surrounding area -- we are not surrounded by multi nationals."

Mr Burke can be reached at the school on 01254 231051.