WHEN pupils arrive at Venerable Bede school at Tunstall Bank, Sunderland, their form teacher registers them by using an internet protocol (IP) handset linked to the school management software.

The teacher records the names of the 11 to 16-year-olds who are late or absent by selecting options on the screen.

In the classroom pupils who are chattering instead of paying attention can be issued with punishment forms instantly using the system.

In fact, forms are available at the click of a button for everything that happens in the school and teachers can access them at any time from any PC.

When it comes to chemistry lessons there are no safety concerns. Student set up virtual experiments by clicking and selecting components on wi-fi-enabled PCs. Bunsen burners, heating flasks and chemicals all appear on screen at the click of a mouse. In the library pupils have their fingerprints scanned when taking out books. Access to the music library is by a touch-screen scan.

Iris scanning has removed the need for anybody to carry cash to buy school meals; details of food and drink consumed are recorded on each pupil’s record.

The school makes much use of multimedia in the classroom and one of the key applications is video. A library of 500 titles is being built up and videos that can be accessed via an intranet from anywhere in the school and broadcast to PCs. Audio recordings and interactive maps can also be used for lessons.

Under the IP communications system the staff each have their own extension number so that they can be contacted wherever they are teaching.

All these applications will become commonplace in most schools soon, believes Andy Macleod, education business development manager at Cisco Systems. It is responsible for the equipment that has just been installed at the school. He says: “You will see huge leaps over the next three years. Quite a few teachers have been frightened of introducing the technology.” But that is changing now that staff see the advantages, he adds.

The market for mobile and wireless technologies in the global education sector will grow from $827 million (£566 million) last year to $6.49 billion in 2010, the technology consultants Juniper Research forecast.