FORMER Ambleside primary teacher Mark Robinson has picked up another award for his much-applauded IT work.

Mr Robinson was named as runner-up in the primary teaching category at the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency 'ICT in Practice Awards' at London Olympia.

The award recognised his innovative use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the classroom.

It added to Mr Robinson's and the school's already laden mantlepieces.

In the same week, Ambleweb, the school's website, beat stiff competiton for the North West Internet Awards' 'Best not-for-profit website' prize.

In 1999 the site picked up the country's top Educate OnLine primary school website of the year prize and even featured on the BBC's six o'clock news.

Ambleweb was built in 1998 by Mr Robinson with a PC bought with money from his father and know-how gleaned from web magazines.

"It was driven by professional need.

A good teacher has to do the Internet because children are doing it.

Children can do anything teachers can do," said Mr Robinson.

The site has covered projects as diverse as 'a day in the life of a guinea pig', a fractions game and a bird-watching webcam.

Mr Robinson left Ambleside Primary School in December to start working from home for Digital Brain, an Internet firm aimed at developing Internet use in schools.

"Facilities are not yet in the country for skills to disseminate properly.

Teachers re-invent the wheel in school after school.

Digital Brain is about spreading that knowledge - it extends my classroom from 30 to 30,000," he told the Gazette.

Mr Robinson will shortly be travelling to Germany to lecture isolated Forces schools on how to manage their learning systems and use the Internet to best effect.