THE BOSS of a national project which nurtures creative skills in young people has visited the North-East to see the scheme in action.

A group of ten and 11-year-olds at Westlea Primary School in Seaham, County Durham, put on a short theatrical production with the help of professionals.

Members of Theatre-Cap-A-Pie, from north-west Durham, spent three-hours working with the Y6 class before they performed their finished piece for visiting dignitaries.

The theatre workshop was staged with the backing of the recently-formed Creative Partnerships programme, a £40m national initiative involving the Government departments of Culture, Media and Sport, and Education and Skills.

During the next two years thousands of school children in England will have the opp-ortunity to develop their creativity.

Among the first to benefit were the youngsters at Westlea, one of 23 schools in the County Durham and Sunderland areas.

Creative Partnerships national director Peter Jenkinson, who was in the region to address a meeting about the programme, was among the audience who saw the youngsters perform.

Headteacher Kevin Duke said: "The theatre group took the ideas from the children and worked on it and developed it through the day.

"Considering they only had three hours putting it on from scratch they did really well.

"It's been a wonderful opportunity for the children."

Mr Duke said the school would benefit from visits from people from various areas of the arts during the two years of the project.