TWELVE Year Nine students from Mount St Joseph Business and Enterprise College in Farnworth are going on a four day trip to Cornwall where they will work with artists and develop ideas for a sculpture for their school.

On their return, students will work on the sculpture project in partnership with local artists and students from Bolton Institute.

During the trip the talented young students will visit the Tate at St Ives and take part in a workshop with about 30 artists. They will also visit the Barbara Hepworth Gallery in St Ives and the Eden project. They will capture as many images as possible using digital cameras and traditional techniques of painting and drawing, and will take part in a land art project using flotsam and driftwood.

Art teacher John Clough, who will accompany the students, said: "Their work will be used at school as a learning resource for GCSE students, as well as inspiration for the development of ideas for the sculpture. Mount St Joseph BEC is keen that enterprise is embedded in all areas of the curriculum, and this visit is a great example of how subject leaders develop opportunities for students to learn skills and techniques in context, enabling them to create innovative responses working with local businesses, in this case artists."

The school works in partnership with the Centre for Enterprise Education (CEE) at Manchester Metropolitan University, which aims to bring about an expansion in enterprise skills by training teachers to deliver enterprise education effectively and provides realistic entrepreneurial experiences that can be integrated into a range of curriculum areas.

It is funded by the North West Development Agency and works in partnership with schools and colleges to create an appetite for enterprise education.

Nearly 200 schools in the North-west will become involved over the next three years.