Around 30 pupils from Ashington met on the beach at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea after their designs for sub-sea ploughs were turned into the real deal by engineers.

Hirst Park Middle School pupils Harry Bainbridge and Jordan Dixon test out sub-sea ploughs at Newbiggin beach

The children, all aged between 12 and 13, at Hirst Park Middle School, in Ashington, raced the two mean machines along the sand at a special unveiling event.

Education officials at the county council have submitted a planning application to demolish Hirst High School in Ashington and build the new academy - sponsored by the Duke of Northumberland and the Church of England - on adjacent land.

The new building will cater for almost 2,000 junior, senior and special educational needs children, and form the centrepiece of the five-site Hirst Academy.

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About 1,500 school pupils in Wansbeck are joining forces with local companies of all sizes, who are investing thousands of pounds in the project.

Make £5 Grow is the brainchild of the Wansbeck Education Enterprise Network (WEEN).

The youngsters, aged 11 and 12, face a daily walk of more than two miles from their homes in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea to the Church of England Academy site in the Hirst area of Ashington because the county council says they don't qualify for a free school bus.

Their parents, supported by Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy, claim the council has a responsibility to provide free transport because the route the pupils have to walk is not safe enough.

Coral Appleton, 18, pictured, of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, got Bs in psychology and maths and a C in biology. She is going to Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to study maths.

She said: "I'm very pleased with my results. I've always liked maths and it has always been my strongest subject."

Dance Northumberland has opened Studio One at Newbiggin Middle School, where children can learn anything from modern dance and vocal training to trapeze and aerial skills.

Claire Hanson, founder of Dance Northumberland, with Kirsti McDonagh

The project came about when Dance Northumberland approached Newbiggin Middle School after noticing there were few dance or performance facilities for young people in Northumberland.

The youngsters were celebrating the 50-year life of their school before it went out of existence.

And the sun helped everything go with a swing yesterday as Newbiggin Middle School was moved to Druridge Bay beach for the day.

Newbiggin Middle School closes in July with the opening of the Hirst Academy.

A beach party with games, sandcastle competitions and sports has been organised at scenic Druridge Bay for the whole of the school - around 350 students.

Children and teachers from schools in Northumberland are working with the club for six weeks, receiving specialist coaching.

The programme is for eight to 10-year-olds and focuses on tag rugby, a non-contact version of the sport that teaches the skills necessary to go on and play rugby union.

Phil Hearne, who will lead the joint primary and secondary school academy in Ashington, was the head of Edgware School in London when it became a city academy.

During his time there it was ranked "outstanding" by Ofsted.

Opposition county councillors are concerned that the £48m investment to create a new academy school in the Hirst area of Ashington might not provide sufficient employment or training opportunities for local people.

They are pressing for safeguards to ensure that the national company awarded the lucrative contract delivers a much-needed boost for the economy of the area.

The school saw the number of its children getting the required level for English rise from 67% in 2007 to 78% last year, while the science scores went up from 79% to 88%. The number of children hitting the target in maths went down to 59%, however.

The results meant that Newbiggin was ranked 10th and Newminster 31st out of the 45 middle and primary schools in Northumberland.

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