St Thomas of Aquin's High School in Edinburgh has plugged in to the power of IT to extend the curriculum and help prepare pupils for continuing education and work.

Their Flexi-Base allows pupils to take courses, including Highers, in their own time using e-mail. It was provided thanks to support from ScottishPower Learning, a partnership between the electricity company and the unions to help people in the community develop work-related skills.

Since the Flexi-Base was opened last January by Helen Liddell MP pupils have studied a wide range of topics via computers linked to the Internet and to educational material provided by ScottishPower, the company's training resources provider NETg, Telford and Stevenson Colleges and Community Education.

Nicola Grassick used the Flexi-Base to improve her chances of a place on a Nursery Nurse college course next season by taking health care courses not normally available in schools using flexible learning units supplied through Stevenson College.

Nicola has successfully completed the first units and says : "The computers in the Flexi-Base help me to get background information on the course - we can all use the Internet. It's also good to work on your own, and it feels like I'm in college".

Anthony McKale says the Flexi-Base allowed him to gain an additional Higher which he could not fit in to his normal timetable and he got an A pass.

Head Teacher Marian Docherty said the school's partnership with ScottishPower Learning had allowed it to extend the curriculum in exciting new ways and helped to deliver Higher Still programmes.

She said the Flexi-Base and multi-media technology would be an integral part of St Thomas' when it moved to a new building in August 2002.

"Winning this UK award is a welcome public acknowledgement of our partnership with ScottishPower and the sterling efforts of staff and students during this challenging phase in the life of St Thomas'".

Paul McKelvie, Managing Director of ScottishPower Learning, said : "This is a landmark initiative which has demonstrated how the power of IT can be harnessed to provide flexible learning across a wide range of abilities, and following its success in Edinburgh ScottishPower Learning has opened Flexi-Bases at other schools in our operating area including in Kilmarnock, Liverpool and Brighton."

Further information:
ScottishPower Press Office
Gordon Laidlaw,                                   0141 248 8200. Mobile : 0850 634 841
Marian Docherty,    Head Teacher,  St Thomas of Aquin's,        0131 229 8734