A headteacher is celebrating after his East Sussex school was awarded specialist status.

Tideway Community School in Newhaven, which has been granted technology college status by the Department for Education and Skills, is now assured extra funding while teachers and students will have greater access to technology in the classroom.

Headteacher Adrian Money said: "This is fantastic news for the school and I am so grateful to the staff who have worked so hard putting together the plans. I am also indebted to everybody who sponsored the bid and helped us raise the initial £50,000.

"We will now receive a further £100,000 this year to support us using technology to raise standards and a further £123 per student per year to further improve maths, science and design technology and reach the challenging targets we have set ourselves.

"When I was appointed in September 2000, I said within three years this school would be a technology college. We've made it."

An army of local businesses supported the school in its bid and representatives will be invited to an official celebration in the autumn term.

Mr Money said the successful bid would help increase the relevance of the curriculum and encourage pupils to stay on at the school's sixth form college.