A NOVEL based on modern communication has inspired an education project to help literacy skills of pupils moving schools.

Teach Your Granny to Text and Other Ways to Change the World will help students in Darlington as they move from primary to secondary school.

Rob Thompson, Darlington Borough Council's transition leader, and John Armitage, deputy head teacher of North Road Primary Schools, have set up a project to develop literacy links from key stages two to three.

The book, which brings together ideas from children across the country, inspired the project after it landed in a school pigeonhole.

Children who contributed to the book came up with questions they would ask people to change the world.

The ideas will be used in the project to improve reading, writing, speaking and listening skills of children across the borough.

Activities will include children putting together a folder of work that will be transferred with them when they start secondary schools.

They will also produce a one-minute long video story and write a letter to pupils at the previous school.

Schools and pupils will also be able to devise their own activities for the project.

Councillor Jenny Chapman, cabinet member for children and young people, said: "This is a fantastic resource that will help to ease the transition of pupils as they move up to secondary school - a major step for any child.

"This project offers children the chance to take part in creative and fun activities that will stimulate discussion and thinking while giving pupils from different schools the chance to share common themes of work and get to know each other better."