Culinary students from Bede Academy in Blyth turned up the heat in an inter-house cookery competition to create a sweet treat to be served to principal Gwyneth Evans and guests.

Judged by academy cooks Mary Davis and Carol Hartshorne, the 12 finalists from Years 8 and 9, representing Bede's houses of Aiden, Cuthbert and Oswald, had just one hour to make, bake and serve their gastronomic delights.

Teams from Berwick, Allendale, Alnwick and Prudhoe took part in the Key Stage Three and Four Northumberland Schools Badminton County Final organised by Badminton England and the School Sports Partnership..

Northumberland Schools Badminton County Final Key Stage Four winners (back) and the stage three victors (front) receive their trophies at Ashington Leisure Centre

For the first time, all six School Sports Partnerships in Northumberland - Ashington, Blyth and Bedlington, Cramlington and Seaton Valley, Morpeth and Ponteland, North Northumberland and Tynedale - were involved in the competition.

Visit northumberland.gov.uk for further updates

Blyth Community College - GCSE (2009), Post-16 (2009)

St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Middle School - Key Stage 2 (2009)
Delaval Community Middle School - Key Stage 2 (2009)
Blyth Tynedale Middle School - Key Stage 2 (2009)
Blyth Bebside Middle School - Key Stage 2 (2009)

Comparative tables for Northumberland schools: Key Stage 2, GCSE, Post-16

Captained by science teacher Ben Dewhurst, staff from Blyth's Bede Academy lined up alongside a Northumbria Police Force team for a friendly football match designed to help forge links within the community.

Despite an early lead from Year 6 teacher Rob Harker, the teachers were unable to hold off the long arm of the law, with the police team netting a 2-1 victory in the final minute of play.

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Dozens of pupils from the Bede Academy in Blyth, Northumberland, took to the stage in four separate shows for different age groups.

The academy, which opened in September, is the region's first all-age school with the youngest being only three and the eldest 18.

More than 1,000 people attended the festive event at Bede Academy Secondary Years building in Sixth Avenue, Blyth.

Bede Voices, a new choir comprising students and staff, performed and there were also appearances from the Academy Junior Choir and the Primary Choir, made up of children from the academy's other site at South Beach.

Bosses at the £30m Bede Primary Academy in South Beach, Blyth, wrote to parents recently warning that their youngsters could be excluded if they fail to comply with controls brought in to protect nearby residents from illegal and nuisance parking near the school.

The Emmanuel Schools Foundation which runs the 630-pupil school, said it was bringing in a 'three strikes and you're out' policy on indiscriminate parking - with pupil expulsion being used as an ultimate sanction.

Grandmas are joining girls and boys at Bede Academy, in Blyth, each week to create festive treats.

The five-week project is the idea of Mary Burnett, head of food and nutrition at the school.

She said: "We have a wonderful resource here and we want to involve the community as much as possible.

Controls were introduced on streets surrounding the Bede Primary Academy in South Beach, Blyth, to protect local residents from illegal and indiscriminate parking by parents dropping off and picking up youngsters.

Jessica Dixon, left, with fellow parents Sarah Chalmers and Carly Saunderson

The controls aim to prevent parents from blocking driveways, clogging up roads and causing danger and general nuisance for locals.

The internationally acclaimed African Children's Choir gave an inspirational performance of traditional drumming, music and dance for hundreds of students at Bede Academy, Blyth.

The South African choir, which was founded in 1984 by human rights activist Ray Barnett, has been raising awareness of the plight of the continent's most vulnerable children for the past 25 years.

Organised by consulting engineers Cundall, all the companies involved in the construction of the newly-opened Bede Academy in Blyth formed teams and took each other on in a series of charity matches for the Cundall Charity Cup.

The competition took place at the academy's new sports fields, and involved teams from every aspect of the academy's construction.

The image capturing all 800 pupils and staff from the senior site of Bede Academy, Blyth, was taken to celebrate the opening of the building and will take pride of place inside the school's reception area.

Bede Academy, sponsored by the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, opened its doors last month with two state-of-the-art buildings bringing together nursery, primary and secondary education.

The reorganisation - which includes a £5m investment in new building and remodelling - will see the schools in Blyth and Bedlington switch to a two-tier system.

Detailed proposals submitted by the four governing bodies have been approved by the county council's Liberal Democrat executive.