TWO years hard work has paid off for a Kidderminster high school given the opportunity to develop a centre of excellence.

Baxter College in Habberley Road has been granted specialist business and enterprise status after applying in April. The school was inspected two months ago after two previous applications had failed.

It had to raise £50,000 to be considered for the scheme and will have £150,000 in capital funding which will include money pledged by the Government.

Ongoing funding will also be provided over the next four years, dependent on the number of pupils at the school, and is expected to be around £70,000.

Some of the money will be spent on building a business suite on school grounds for both community and pupil use. It will have conference facilities and a cyber cafe.

In 2001, the school was judged as underachieving in a report issued by the Office for Standards in Education but a further report in 2003 revealed it was improving.

Principal, David Seddon, said it had taken "the best part of two years" to achieve specialist status.

He added: "I'm absolutely delighted. It is an acknowledgement of all the work we have put in at the school. We are now recognised nationally as a specialist school. We are no longer seen as a poor performing school at the bottom of the pile."

Assistant principal, Dean Logan, said: "It was very rewarding to hear the news. It really does demonstrate the improvements the school has made and is recognition of how far we have come. It means quite a lot of investment in the school so achievements and standards will continue to rise."

Seventy-five per cent of schools in England now have specialist status, which allows a school to extend the range of opportunities available to pupils to best meet their needs and interests.

l Head of creative arts at Baxter College, Rosie Moss, achieved a distinction in the West Midlands regional category of the Teaching Awards 2005.

She missed out on the main award in the category for teaching assistant of the year when the results were announced on Friday. Mrs Moss, 44, was nominated for the awards scheme, which recognises excellence among teachers, by one of her students.