In the coming weeks, pupils from four local primary schools will be participating in a literacy-based project called the "King James Book Awards'.

Last term, King James hosted the annual two-day Primary Shakespeare Festival as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Associate Schools Project. Here, Year 12 student Kyle Blood reports on the event.

This month, we were joined in school by around 80 local primary school pupils in Years 5 and 6 for an exciting three-part STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) Challenge.

Over 70 of our new starters joined us at our Transition Summer School this year, spending two days in school before heading off for a free, three-day adventure holiday to Weardale Adventure Centre in Ireshopeburn.

Last term, two of our Year 9 students, supported by two of our former Sixth Formers worked on an exciting primary outreach project called "Picnic in the Park' in partnership with the Auckland Project. The activity took place in the beautiful grounds of Auckland Castle.

Around 600 pupils from 12 local primary schools joined us for Year 5 Curriculum Week this year. Students attended King James to enjoy a full range of taster sessions and learning experiences, which were pre-selected by their own Head Teacher.

In September, over 180 new Year 7s will join us at King James. To make sure they settle in quickly, our Transition Programme starts early, with a wide variety of events that began for many whilst they were in Year 5.

At the beginning of the year, our Business Studies Department launched and exciting project which allowed primary school children to learn about building a successful business through a range of creative challenges.

Year 7 students from King James have been involved in bringing William Shakespeare's work to life as part of a prestigious national project run by The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

In September 2018, due to an exceptionally high number of applications, 184 young people will be joining Year 7 at King James. This is the largest intake we have had in recent years, and one which has led us to employ a number of additional Teachers to ensure that our class sizes are not increased.