Students at King James I Academy have risen to a one-week "Operation Christmas Child' challenge set by their Assistant Headteacher and Key Stage 4 Co-ordinator, Mrs Short. Also known as the "Shoe box appeal', the project, which is run by the "Samaritan's Purse', has been sending gifts to children in need all over the world since 1990.

Encouraging students to get involved in their community and to help others around the world is very much part of the King James ethos; the Jamaica Difference and Ghana Volunteering projects are an integral part of school life and Operation Christmas Child offered another opportunity for students to make a real difference to a disadvantaged child.

Mrs Short, who told students about the charity and asked for their support at a school assembly, was pleased but not surprised at the fantastic response and the amount of shoeboxes that filled her office in just one week: "Our students regularly act on their own initiative to organise and take part in fundraising activities throughout the year and they have made many donations to charities at a local, national and international level. This appeal has given them yet another chance to demonstrate what caring young adults they are."

Mrs Short, along with Head Girl, Faye, Head Boy, Ben and a number of Year 11 volunteers have now safely delivered the gift boxes to Shoe Zone, one of the drop-off points for the Bishop Auckland area.