A SCHOOL is literally getting on track for lessons in creative writing this year.

All 300 pupils and the tots attending the nursery at Archibald Primary School, Middlesbrough, are going on train rides.

For many of the youngsters it will be the first time they will have been on a train.

Headteacher Pat Irving plans to change all that.

She has worked out a timetable of what classes go where and when. Year six pupils caught a train to Edinburgh yesterday, touring the Scottish capital, its castle and an interactive science museum. Other year groups will visit London, York, Saltburn and Whitby.

For a class going on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, in June, their great adventure will be a history lesson too. They are travelling back in time as wartime evacuees.

Mrs Irving said: "All of the journeys share a common theme of rail travel, with destinations being chosen to provide stimuli for extended writing activities, both during and after the journey.

"These journeys should prove to be a wonderful experience for our pupils and we are anticipating some inspired writing."

The money for the rail travel is being channeled through the West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust.