CHILDREN at St Paul's CE Primary this week donned their waterproofs as they set sail from the safe harbour of virtual reality to experience the nautical know-how of the real thing.

In a Leigh Education Action Zone project, they boarded the Kennet Floating Classroom, moored on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at the Waterside.

The visit, backed by Wigan Education Business Partnership, follows a fascinating class session at the Westleigh school, which had opened its EAZ ICT suite to allow parents to see what their children do in school.

Action Zone staff Lesley Fitzsimmons and Glenn Aspinall worked with British Waterways personnel and seconded teacher Susan Heyes, using the Kennet Floating Classroom virtual reality CD-rom, to give children a rare insight into canal history.

The children took a virtual sail along the Leigh branch of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, loading up cotton bales at Wigan Pier, transporting them to Leigh and collecting coal from Bickershaw pit. The session increased pupils' understanding of how a canal works -- and improved the simulation skills required for ICT.

Parents and pre-school children, who took part in the virtual reality session, were impressed with the youngsters' ICT skills. On Tuesday, however, came the real thing!