A NEWTON Aycliffe school was still buzzing with activity - two weeks after the end of term.

Greenfield Community and Arts Centre has been playing host to two out-of-school initiatives - Sedgefield Borough Council's tennis school and Durham County Council's arts activities Splash project.

The tennis school has developed in line with Greenfield's new courts, which will be open to the public in September.

The three floodlit courts will be used as part of the new tennis club, which will include a coaching programme catering for all ages and abilities.

The programme will operate under the expert guidance of Ian Wilkinson, a qualified Lawn Tennis Association coach.

Mr Wilkinson, who used to live in Shildon, has more than 30 years of coaching experience.

He started his coaching career in Shildon and progressed to become a coach at the Bjorn Borg Tennis School, in Marbella.

While in Spain, Mr Wilkinson taught tennis to players from 54 countries, and his famous pupils included Sean Connery and Sting.

He later became a trainer at the world famous Harry Hopmans Training Camp in Florida.

The week of arts activities at the school has also been a great success, with workshops led by Eddy Hardy and Sharon Simpson.

The young people taking part in this project have been working with the art studio at Greenfield, exploring the theme of identity.

During the five days, youngsters have made their own paper and created sculpture and two-dimensional pieces of artwork.