AFTER-school activities undertaken by Bolton teachers were in a different class. . . Smithills and Little Lever schools were among 220 nationwide to be presented with Education Extra awards. They were chosen out of the record number of more than 500 schools who applied to the national charity, Education Extra.

The awards are made in recognition of extra-curricular activities. Smithills School was presented with a Certificate of Merit, while Little Lever was given a Certificate of Distinction for the second year running.

In addition, Little Lever School on Church Street, received a multi-media authoring software package, entitled "Illuminatus", donated by Research Machines plc, a leading supplier of information technology to schools, colleges and universities.

Deputy Head Teacher, Mr Keith Gears, said: "We are delighted that the time and effort given freely by teachers in out of school lessons in Little Lever School, has once again been recognised.

"Illuminatus should prove to be a most useful tool in enabling pupils to combine text, pictures, video, photographs, sound effects and music into multi-media presentations."

Smithills School's successful application drew attention to its music and sporting achievements, focusing in particular on the potential for the development of a wide range of after-school activities such as Urdu, The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, and after-school study sessions.

Chris Roberts, who co-ordinated the school's Education Extra programme, said: "We believe that after-school activities play an important role throughout the school and help us to maintain strong links with our community.

"I am delighted that the enthusiasm and commitment shown by both teachers and students has been recognised by Education Extra in this way."

The Education Extra Awards are a key feature of the work of the charity, now in its third year, which was set up to support and promote the development of after-school activities in schools.

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