MINEHEAD Middle School's new headteacher Paul Rushforth has announced he is setting his sights on having the "Rolls Royce" of facilities when a six-figure grant is awarded for a £75,000 ICT unit.

The state of the art unit will allow pupils to have regular access to the internet and all teachers are being provided with laptop computers.

The upgrade from the education authority comes as a welcome boost for the Ponsford Road school following a damning Ofsted report.

Mr Rushforth was speaking this week about his aims and said he was confident of changing the fortunes of the school with the backing of the governors, staff and parents.

Ofsted Inspectors want immediate action and will be back in December to examine the areas of weakness that was discovered.

Mr Rushforth has been brought in from St John's Primary School, Highbridge, on a contract that runs until next Easter but he hopes to be appointed as permanent headteacher.

He told the Free Press: "This has the potential to be a very good school and with the support of the teachers I hope to get it back to how it used to be.

"The ICT unit will make a huge difference with enough computers for all the pupils to be able to have access when they need it. I want to ensure we have the Rolls Royce of equipment.

"The laptops for teachers will also improve and speed up teaching and staff will be able to boot up their machines in the morning and there will be messages from me and news of what's going on the school that day."

Mr Rushforth, aged 38, said he also wants to forge stronger links between the school and parents.

"We have a newsletter that goes out to parents every Friday and parents can also e-mail me any time they want if they are unable to get hold of me."

And he stressed that the Ofsted inspectors had not criticised the teaching.

"We have a good team of staff here and I am confident that we will get this school back to being how it used to be, a great school.

"My aims are deal in the short team at the moment because my contract only runs to Easter but I would very much like to take up the position permanently."