STUDENTS and business people are clicking at a school's new £210,000 Internet café.

The cyber café is a major benefit from the business and enterprise status granted by the Government to Invicta Girls Grammar School in Maidstone. It is thes first school in Kent to win the accolade.

A four-year deal pumps more than £500,000 into the school, including £100,000 for a capital project.

The school has invested the cash in a new computer facility, adding its own funds and sponsorship to create an impressive new wing with 20 terminals and a conference area for 35. It has disabled lift access and can be isolated from the school.

When not needed by pupils, the Invicta Internet Cafe can be hired by outside organisations for £175 a day, or £100 for a half-day or evening.

Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, leader of Kent County Council, is to open the new facility at the end of March.

Sue Glanville, head teacher, said: "We wanted something that business would feel was quality and students would feel was businesslike. We have a commitment to IT and preparing students for the outside world."

Mrs Glanville -- in business terms, a chief executive with a £4m budget, 119 staff and at least 1,300 student customers -- says it is vital to prepare young people for the world of work, while also helping them to become "confident, knowledgeable and happy adults”.

"My motto is Go for It," she says. "Because if you don't, someone else will."

That approach, coupled with the new enterprise status, has made the school popular with students wanting to study business at GCSE and A Level.

In its latest report, Ofsted paid tribute to Invicta's provision of business education, saying it was "very good," leadership "excellent" and standards much higher than the national average.

"Excellent progress is being made in developing enterprise skills," it added.

Year 9 students showed "a very clear understanding of business ideas and processes such as business finance and planning. They understand the nature and purpose of accounting systems, including balance sheets and profit and loss accounts."

The characteristics of the best teaching were "detailed planning, rigorous pace, high expectations and a high level of challenge."

There were "good extra-curricular links with the real world of business" but lessons "would be enriched by more input from visiting business speakers and visits to firms."