Sholing Girls' School completed its transition to a specialist technology college with an official VIP opening ceremony.

Youngsters lined the corridors waving flags as Southampton's education chiefs were shown around the Middle Road secondary school, which staged presentations and demonstration lessons.

The new college, which first opened its doors to pupils in September last year, has now installed a wealth of technology bought with the funds released by the government when it granted specialist status.

The girls' school now boasts several classrooms of the future, complete with advanced computer networking, laptops and interactive whiteboards.

Guests were treated to a demonstration of video conferencing where students linked up with colleagues in Applemore College to discuss building an entry for BBC's popular Robot Wars programme.

Making the switch to specialist status releases an extra £642,000 funding over the next four years, some of which has been lavished on upgrading science laboratories as well as new technology.

When MP John Denham unveiled the opening plaque, it brought to an end years of preparation by the management team.

In order to win specialist status, a school needs to win £50,000 backing from businesses and show how it plans to share its expertise with other local schools.

Head teacher Karen Dagwell said: "The last term in the school has been incredibly exciting. We have seen a large amount of resources being installed in the college. The wireless computers have been a particularly significant and successful development and we are looking at exp-

anding their use throughout the school.

"Specialist status not only allows our students to benefit from additional resources but also to take advantage of the experience of local businesses.

"The official opening is a chance to recognise the work we have already done in developing Sholing as a technology college and also to celebrate the opportunities it opens up to us for the future."

Guests at the opening heard a speech from IBM executive Rebecca George who said she was excited about Sholing winning technology status because the IT industry was crying out for more women.