If, like Auric Goldfinger, you thought the most imaginative use of a laser beam was to separate James Bond from his - lets face it hyperactive - family jewels, think again.

At King’s Cross Education Action Zone (KXEAZ) in Islington, north London, they’re using laser technology to connect a network of seven schools - six primary and one secondary. It’s cheap, high capacity, low maintenance, and it’s got great education potential.

Derek Smith, director of KXEAZ explains. “The ICT infrastructure in our secondary school, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (EGA)was strong, but in the primary schools overall it was regarded as being among the weakest in the borough. We decided that we would connect to a main server at EGA, giving ourselves the opportunity to share broadband connections, software and expertise.”

The working party looked at the usual solutions, including land lines and radio links, and found that the prices quoted were beyond their budget. And then, in January 2001, they examined the possibility of laser connection, for which there wasn’t really any template.

The Eureka moment arrived when the team realised that all six other schools in the proposed network were in line of sight from the roof of Copenhagen primary school. What was previously a possibility quickly became reality; in July KXEAZ was connected by broadband laser. From conception to completion took barely seven months.

The technology benefits stemming from an enormous capacity for data exchange and handling are huge. There’s a 100-megabyte data link between each school (its actually 1 gigabyte between EGA and Copenhagen) which cost each unit a one-off installation fee of pound;12,000. Compare this with the annual lease on a 2-megabyte land line at pound;6,000 per school and you’re going to arrive at the happy shoppers’ magic formula. Much, much more for far, far less. Additionally, there’s no downtime on the system; the only maintenance is a routine annual check to ensure signal strength.

Educationally, as Derek Smith, a former lecturer and Ofsted inspector, is keen to point out, the benefits are even more impressive. Constituent schools work together via video-conferencing and a library of video materials is being established that can be downloaded in real time. The network also beams educational content from Espresso to each school from a single satellite dish. Multimedia quality, both sound and vision, is excellent with none of the jerkiness and digital drop-out that is the signature of restricted bandwidth.

This joint is definitely jumping, and it is due in no small measure to the invigorating effect of good technology, well chosen education resources and enthusiastic staff. In November, at the time of my visit, the London Symphony Orchestra were about to give a performance of The Pied Piper of Hamelin at Vittoria Primary. The event was going to be beamed across the network, not as a televisual transmission but interactively so children could communicate with members of the orchestra.

Children are introduced to the creative use of technology at an early age. Peter Barrett, the King’s Cross ICT project manager runs a digital video club, The Genesis Project, which gives pupils and staff from each school the opportunity to learn video skills from scripting to final edited product. It’s expected that the completed videos will be shown at a local film festival in the summer.

That’s not all. Development is now at an advanced stage for the King’s Cross Community Learning Centre which is to be built on the site of EGA and will open in September 2002. With a public cybercafe, digital learning centre, music studio, language laboratory and library, the complex should provide Islington residents with unrivalled facilities. Project manager Phil Walker, who is also ICT co-ordinator at EGA, is enthusiastic: “We want to engage the members of the community in learning so that, hopefully, they’ll engage their kids in learning,” he says.

But the most heartening of news is that, according to Derek Smith, “we’re just starting to realise the potential of what we’ve got here”. Are you listening Mr Goldfinger?

King’s Cross Education Action Zone www.kxeaz.com

CSE Education Systems, BETT stand: C38 www.cse-net.co.uk