TWO of Hounslow's most advanced schools have been recognised for their excellent use of technology and designated as exemplars' to their peers.

The Green School in Isleworth and Alexandra Junior School are both using ICT to lead and support teaching in school.

The designation as exemplar status, by the London Grid for Learning, means the Green School is the first secondary school, and Alexandra Junior School one of five primary schools, in London to be recognised for their excellence in technology.

Both schools have been recognised because they use their website to support everyday school activity.

At the Green School, students can access teaching resources through their emails and seek support from teachers online, whilst at Alexandra Junior parents can find out about supporting their children's learning and development through the web.

Both schools use their websites internally to provide additional learning content, live email discussions and to share ideas.

Achieving exemplar status means that both schools, which have worked together on their ICT provision, are setting the standard for other schools in the country to follow.

Bob Usher, Head of ICT at The Green School said: "The impact of the effective use of the London Grid for Learning has been significant and continues to gather pace.

Students are able to access high quality learning resources from school and home and use a wide range of communication tools to exchange their ideas and thoughts."

Heather Sullivan, Head teacher of Alexandra Junior School added: "Our internet based system enables children to log on from school or at home and then use the extensive resources available.

"This not only promotes a level of independence and responsibility for their own learning but also supports parents by giving them access to day to day school information and an insight into the learning that their children are undertaking in school, all at the touch of their fingertips."