A NEWTON Aycliffe school was a hive of activity when it held its fifth family learning event.

Children from primary schools in the town converged on Woodham Community Technology College, many with their families.

Based on the theme of learning is fun, the event was different in format and emphasis from previous ones.

It ran on the lines of a masterclass, with workshops in science, design technology and mathematics for children, and Internet exploration for adults.

Workshops included The Crystal Maze, a mathematical version of the television game show, which had teams pitting their wits to get as many crystals as possible.

In the science workshops, experiments were conducted to find which shape of craft travelled fastest across water and how loading a buggy with different amounts of marbles affected its speed.

An interactive rainforest presentation was the mainfeature of a zoolab session, with tropical minibeasts.

For details on family learning at Woodham, or to reserve a place on a free trip to the University of Sunderland's science and innovation day in June, contact Marie Adamson on (01325) 375482.