PUPILS are well and truly on the ball thanks to an after-school study centre at Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park ground which has proved to be a big hit.

The initiative, aimed at providing 10 to 14-year-olds with a stimulating environment to raise attainment levels, uses football to motivate the pupils. They have been building on their school work and have also been able to use the latest technology, including the internet.

Set up as a partnership between Blackburn with Darwen Council, the Department for Education and Employment and Blackburn Rovers, the centre helps pupils to gain an enthusiasm for learning away from the classroom. Now, the centre is one of 12 across the country to be selected by the DfEE to pilot a national evaluation study to establish whether it is meeting its initial objectives. Since opening in January 1999, the centre has received positive feedback from primary and secondary schools taking part. Pupils have benefited from improved literacy and numeracy skills as well as information technology proficiency and a more positive attitude to learning.

Gill Kinloch, centre manager, said: "I am very pleased that we are one of the 12 centres chosen to take part.

"The exercise will give us the opportunity to promote the centre as a beacon of excellence and to demonstrate its success to a national audience.

"Participation in the national evaluation project has given us the opportunity to build on these findings and, for the first time, to expand our assessment of the effectiveness of our work to include parents."