This year, whilst our building work is underway, our annual Sports Day took place at Bishop Auckland Cricket Club, which is located next to our school grounds.

Mr Shearer, our Head of Sixth Form's "Aim Higher' initiative gives students in Years 9-13 an opportunity to visit universities across the UK to get a taste of student life. Trips take place throughout the year to cities including London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool.

Once again, we are celebrating the exceptional achievement of our students in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge.

Each year, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 take part in ACE (Active Community Engagement) Day, an event designed to raise awareness and encourage our young people to become more involved in their local community. This year, a host of activities took part both inside and outside of our school grounds.

Had it not been for the devastating earthquake and typhoon in the Philippines, the King James Marine Conservation team would have recently returned from a three week scuba diving adventure to the islands of Cebu and Bohol. There, they would have been working with local people to help preserve the coral reefs. Sadly, due to concerns about safety in the region, the expedition had to be cancelled, however this gave our students another idea.

As part of our A.C.E Day activities, a group of Year 7 students, accompanied by Mrs Stewart, visited the Durham Food Bank to deliver and help sort groceries that they had collected in school.

In July, Gunther Von Hagens' astounding exhibition, Body Worlds Vital, launched at Newcastle's Life Centre, showcasing human anatomy on real bodies, which have all undergone Gunther's method of plastination. Sixth Form students from Biology, Applied Science, Phsychology and Health-and-Social Care were among the first to visit the exhibition.

Breaking Bad:Taming Heisenberg

Inside: Issue 10 of the free e-magazine written and produced by an editorial team of young people at King James.

Click Here to visit the Exclaimer Magazine website.

During our annual Curriculum Week programme, around 430 primary pupils in Year 5 joined us at King James for a fun-packed secondary school experience.

Go4SET, a national scheme run by the EDT (Engineering Development Trust) links teams of students in Years 8 and 9 with companies and universities to offer a 10 week Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) experience.