PUPILS will be studying in a state of the art building thanks to a new £300,000 arts and technology department.

The cutting edge single-storey building, which took 12 months to complete, was unveiled at Blackrod and Rivington High School.

The eight rooms have transformed an area of the school which was built in the '70s and had dark, narrow corridors into an eyecatching entrance area with graphics spotlighted across the walls and a bright yellow and turquoise colour theme.

Youngsters will be able to learn technological skills, including pneumatics and robotics, in a laboratory which is fitted with 20 computers and allows pupils aged as young as 12 to take part in classes usually reserved for 15-year-olds and older.

Any 14-year-olds who have a flare for engineering and design will be able to follow a two-year fast-track engineering course and work alongside higher education and training organisations such as Alliance Learning which have links to industry names such as Hitachi, BAe Systems and Leyland Trucks.

A hi-tech manufacturing centre will be linked to one at Harper Green High School as well as at other schools in Bolton which can work together via a video conferencing facility.

Bolton schools will also be working together to develop a new engineering curriculum model for all ages and abilities with primary schools being given design software.

Funding for the new building was provided after the Rivington Lane school was granted Techonology College status in September 2000 and came from the Department for Education and Skills (DFES), sponsorship money raised by the school and business community and from Bolton's LEA.

Headteacher John Baumber said: "This project will radically alter the skill levels of young people that will quickly feed into the local economy.

"Allied with the Information and Communication Technology developments in the school we expect all our students to leave with a real understanding of the skills required to work across a wide range of industrial and commercial sectors into this new century."