We've done it - that was the message from the William de Ferrers School in South Woodham this week where staff, students and parents have helped raise over £65,000 in just nine weeks.

At the start of this term head teacher Dennis Parry appealed to parents at the 1,750-pupil school to help raise £50,000 by March.

Parents were asked for pledges of £45 so that the school could bid for prestigious technology status - attracting Department for Education and Employment grants of £580,000.

This week deputy head Andrew Merchant announced that the target had been topped by £15,000.

"We are absolutely delighted," he said. "Now we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has pledged money and has helped us meet and exceed our expectations."

Parents have pledged £22,000 he said, while grants of £23,000 and £10,000 have been given by British Aerospace Systems and Ford respectively.

A further £1,000 has been given by the school's parent-teacher association, while over £1,000 has been raised by local businesses.

"We are very pleased to have won the support on this level from big companies, but we are also seeing this as a clear indication of how our parents support the work of the school.

"We always felt that our parents supported us as a school and the work we try to do, now we know that is the case."

The school now goes forward to the next stage of the bid. If successful the grant programme will bring an initial £220,000 payment to the school by September, with payments of £120,000 each year for the next three years.

The cash would be spent on providing technology teaching across the curriculum, including science, mathematics, information technology and craft and design.

A new technology room is planned as well as computers in the school's community library which is used by the public.

The pupil-computer ratio would double; the school is already looking at community outreach work involving the libraries service, local primary schools and business.

Government inspectors will now visit the school as part of the next stage of the bid.

Thank you: Head teacher Dennis Parry with pupils, this week celebrating raising the technology status cash.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.