A TRAINING school for East Lancs entrepreneurs is in the running for a Hive Business Award thanks to its skills training.

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy is one of the few centres in the country to offer students a Finnish style 'team academy' curriculum.

The aim of team academy, which was pioneered in the nineties in Finland, is to give young adults the skills, knowledge and personal qualities required to run their own businesses.

The school adopted the technique last year after staff visited Scandinavia to study their teaching style.

Michelle Billington, assistant principal, said the aim was to train a generation of entrepreneurs who could 'contribute to the redevelopment of Darwen'.

She said: "The difference is that we coach rather than teach students towards goals.

"They work in companies to develop skills that will help in the community and increase their future employability."

The school has already received a £3,000 investment from Dragons' Den entrepreneur Peter Jones in recognition of its work and Ms Billington said the Hive investing in skills award would kick the academy on even further.

She said: "We are absolutely thrilled with the nomination and to win would mean so much to the staff and the pupils.

"We have really tried to offer a bit more here and we hope that by using the team academy method our pupils will contribute to the redevelopment of Darwen."