STAFF and pupils at St Edmund's Girls' School have clinched £360,000 of lottery funding to deliver a revolutionary enhancement programme.

Thanks to the three-year grant from Sport England's Active England Fund, St Edmund's will be the first school in the country to change the structure of its day, giving pupils the chance to supplement their academic programme with extra courses.

From September, lessons will start at 8.20am and finish at staggered times throughout the week, with shorter breaks for lunch. Afternoon sessions will be taken up with different types of enrichment programmes - pupils choosing between curriculum extension/revision sessions, creative classes such as pottery, chess, origami or ceramics, sport-related activities or community initiatives.

Pupils will be able to go into the community and work with groups, such as the over-65s, in sport-related projects.

Headteacher Jackie Goodall said: "The whole principle behind the change in the school day is to offer a wide range of activities for pupils, while continuing to offer high levels of education.

"By doing this, we hope to be able to develop the pupils' spiritual, moral and social attitude, which is just as important."

Last year, Sport England invited schools in different regions to place bids for funding for various sport-related initiatives.

Schools throughout the south-west opted to change the structure of their day. Staff say the alterations to the timetable will not only benefit themselves but will aid the pupils, with earlier finishing allowing more time for homework, and staggered finishing times meaning fewer traffic snarl-ups at the school gate and more time for after-school hobbies.

Sarah Sykes, Sport England senior sports services manager for young people and education, said: "What St Edmund's is doing is pretty revolutionary. This is the only school we have funded nationally, which is a brilliant achievement for the school. What we are doing in this region is looking at St Edmund's as a pilot project."

All pupils will be able to access the enrichment programme free of charge and school buses will continue to pick up at 4pm pupils staying for activities. A handful of monitoring boards will be established involving, pupils, parents, staff and governors, to scrutinise the success of the enrichment courses and see how they can be developed and improved.