THRILLED youngsters returned to a Felixstowe school today to find an early Christmas present - more than double the number of computers following a £160,000-plus investment.

THRILLED youngsters returned to a Felixstowe school today to find an early Christmas present - more than double the number of computers following a £160,000-plus investment.

The new state-of-the art system at Deben High is a huge leap forward for the school and is thanks to its new status as an arts college.

It is the first of a series of projects for the school and the community which the new status will provide and which will culminate in the creation of a 200-seater theatre at the school.

Engineers were hard at work over half-term putting in place the new computers - 140 of them compared to the previous 60 the school had - ready for the pupils to come back from holiday today.

It means the school in Garrison Lane now has a ratio of one computer to every seven students and this will become one to five by Christmas when more machines arrive.

ICT rooms now feature a computer per student, and extra rooms have been dedicated for sixth form use, while the library also has more machines.

Computer technology is being extended to the arts department, too, and 15 new inter-active white boards have been installed in classrooms, bringing the total to 24.

Teachers all have new laptops and their old machines are being given to sixth formers as experiment to see if they would prove useful with their studies.

Deputy head Andrew Salter said: “I can't wait to see the students' faces when they walk into these classrooms.

“These are exciting times for Deben High School - we are really on the up.”

Head teacher Terry Ring said: “We could not have done all this without the status we have gained as a school for the visual and performing arts - that status has released extra money which is benefiting the whole school curriculum, not just the arts.

“Of the extra money we receive, two-thirds is spent in the school and one-third for the benefit of the wider community, including projects to involve our feeder primary schools, working with Orwell High and community groups.”

Tomorrow from 6.30pm to 9pm the school will be open to parents and year six children from all Felixstowe primary schools considering which high school to move to next summer when they will be able to see the school's facilities, experience a series of lessons, meet pupils and hear the school's future plans.

Opinion - page 6