FOUR County Durham schools have won a high ranking quality award for their out-of- school activities.

Seaham Deneside Junior School, Easington Community School, Deerness Valley Comprehensive and King James I Community College, Bishop Auckland, received the Quality in Study Support Award last night.

The award is graded emerging, established and advanced and Seaham Deneside is the only primary school in the country to gain the award at established level.

Easington Community School has also achieved established level while Deerness and King James I have both achieved emerging status.

All four have been working since September last year to gain the award. This included assembling a portfolio of activities which was assessed by "critical friends" and scrutineers and a presentation on why they should receive it.

At Seaham, off timetable activities are having a positive effect on youngsters' school work with the number of children achieving Level 4 in the Key Stage Two English SAT increasing by 43 per cent over two years.

Easington offers a wide range of activities including sport, drama, music and trips.

King James I is involved in a community drama programme with Bishop Auckland Theatre Hooligans.

Deerness has, since 1997, operated a partnership with Durham University Student Community Action in which students volunteer to take part in activities ranging from one-to-one tuition to helping with sport and music.