FORMER soldiers are capturing the imagination of teenagers in a pioneering scheme in the region's schools.

The Skill Force team is a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education and Employment.

Four schools in Newcastle - Benfield, Firfield, West Denton and Walker - are taking part in the pilot along with schools in Norfolk.

The scheme has proved so successful the Government is pledging £600,000 to extend the programme to Merseyside, Leicester, Bristol, West Midlands, Manchester and London.

Steve Handford, a teacher and ex-infantry soldier who leads the Skill Force team in Newcastle, said the children on the course were all in danger of becoming disaffected.

"This is a very small target population and it's the right thing for them," he said.

"It is building back up their self esteem, because that's the underlying problem with a lot of them.

"The whole thing about these kids not being in lessons is that they are not sitting in modern languages or a science group disrupting it.

"It's breaking the mould of things they've rejected in the past and offering them something new."

The two-year course is curriculum-based with the emphasis being on learning life skills which will benefit them when they leave school. They still take core GCSE's in maths, English and science.

Instructors hope they will either get a job or go into further education or training as opposed to becoming so disaffected they end up going nowhere.

Every few weeks the teenagers leave the classroom for practical exercises using military equipment which belong to the reserve units. First- aid and communication are among skills taught.

The teenagers then get the chance to put their skills, ranging from numeracy to information technology, to the test when they go out on work experience.

Darren, 14, is considering joining the Army when he leaves school.

"They understand you better and you get more hope. They know what life's about. I would recommend it to other people," he said.