Students at a Bradford school 'went Down Under' to learn about Australia's Great Barrier Reef thanks to a high-tech education initiative.

The global video-conferencing project enabled pupils at Baildon's Salt Grammar School to communicate directly with an expert swimming on the Great Barrier Reef.

The project is linking schools and colleges around the world and during another class the Salt youngsters were given a lesson direct from an earthquake zone in California.

Run by Global-leap.com the scheme has involved teacher Mike Griffiths delivering lessons from locations throughout the world. As well as the lesson delivered from the Great Barrier Reef, the Salt students took part in a series of three classes beamed back to them from the USA.

They included a lesson focusing on California's earthquake zone, delivered from the Ocean Institute.

And during another, conducted from the Johnson space centre in Houston, they looked at international collaboration and environmental observation in space.

The series finished with the Salt students having a live link-up with their counterparts at the East Lyme High School in Connecticut.

The Baildon pupils were given their insight into the Great Barrier Reef, California's fault lines and the space centre without ever having to leave their school's new IT suite, housed in the new block built as part of Bradford's education reorganisation.

Salt Grammar's deputy head Milan Davidovic said: "We were delighted to participate in such a prestigious project and our students really enjoyed being taught from the other side of the world.''

School spokesman Phil Crotty added: "It's been fantastic.

"The other day we had our kids sat in front of the video-conferencing screen, having their questions answered by a woman as she swum on the Great Barrier Reef.''