A £50,000 bid to gain special science status has been launched by a Hyndburn school, which could make it the first of its kind in East Lancashire.

There are already 834 specialist subject colleges in technology, languages, sports and arts throughout England, but the science colleges are new for 2002.

The closing date for the first set of applications to the Department for Education and Skills is next month and a second batch will be accepted in October.

Mount Carmel RC High School, in Accrington, hopes to submit the bid by October, which means the new status could be in place by September 2003.

The idea behind specialist schools is to focus on innovative methods of teaching a particular subject in order to make learning more fun for pupils and increase standards in that subject, thus improving the school as a whole.

Applicants must submit a detailed development plan to illustrate how they will achieve this and raise the first £50,000 towards improvements.

The school has already accumulated a number of sponsors in the form of local business people, school governors and personal individual donators to raise the money needed.

And if it is successful in raising the cash and putting forward an acceptable development plan the Government will grant specialist Science College status and add another £100,000 to further develop the science and mathematic facilities at the Haworth Street school.

Headteacher Katrina Ryan, said: "We have made an excellent start but there is still some way to go.

"Achieving this is very important for the school as this is obviously the name of the game with the Government -- this is how they see the future and we want to be there at the forefront.

"It is a very powerful tool for raising the school's standards, which is what it is all about. In the past three and a half years we have driven up the standards and this will now add to that -- not just in the specialist subjects but across the board."

There are no plans for additional building work at the school, but students would benefit from enhanced curriculum provisions within science, mathematics and ICT.

State of the art facilities and equipment would also be added to enable an optimum learning environment and this would equip students with more skills to progress into employment, further training or higher education.

The school, formerly known as The Hollins, in Hollins Lane, Accrington, became the first specialist school in Hyndburn when it was awarded technology college status last January. It was officially opened last December.

Anyone who is interested in helping the Roman Catholic school with sponsorship or a donation in its bid can contact Miss Ryan on 01254 233458

SCIENCE COLLEGE FACTS

Science College Status is new for 2002 following on from the success of other specialist schools

There are currently 834 specialist schools throughout England in technology, languages, sports and arts

The first of the new Science Colleges could open in September this year

Applicants must raise £50,000 through private sponsorship in order to qualify for a capital grant of £100,000

The school's aim to make learning fun for pupils by developing innovative teaching methods to excite and enthuse students

It is as yet unknown how many Science Colleges there will be in total as no applications have been received yet