HAUGHTON school in Darlington hopes its week-long festival of African film, dance and animation will move it closer towards art college status.

The Adpana festival began on Monday and is the result of two months' hard work by year nine pupils who have also worked alongside professional theatre makers from Theatre Cap-a-Pie.

The school hopes this enhancement of its arts curriculum will mark a significant step towards its bid to gain arts college status.

The name Adpana is taken from a Ghanaian proverb - "All dwelling places are not alike" - and has been adopted by the school as the title of its festival which celebrates the similarities and differences of life in countries along the Greenwich meridian line.

The young people had the chance to join in with dance, animation, drama or media groups as they set about building an African festival from scratch.

The festival will also see the UK premiere of The Great Boo Boo, a play devised by Theatre Cap-a-Pie as part of the Channel 4 and Oxfam-sponsored On the Line project.

The festival will be open from the public tonight and tomorrow night from 7.15.