SCHOOLCHILDREN have become international authors through a four-way partnership with European students.

Sixteen youngsters left Howden-le-Wear Primary School last week with their own prized copies of the book they wrote with other ten and 11-year-olds in France, Italy and Bulgaria.

The literary link-up was arranged by French teacher Janine Pruvost following a placement at Howden three years ago arranged by Durham County Council's international officer Brian Stobie.

She asked the school's Year 6 pupils to write the last chapter of an 84-page detective story called And If the Sun Should Go to Jail?

Each school contributed part of the story, which opened with the theft of paintings from a museum in the French town Amiens and ended with the capture of the culprit in Sunderland.

The book was printed in all four languages with the help of European Community funding.

Howden's headteacher Val McCourt said: "It was a wonderful thing to take away with them to remind them of their days at primary school.

"The book is unique. It has pictures from all four schools and is written in all the different languages. Working on it has made them aware of the things the countries have in common as well as the things that make them different.

"We are in a rural area and the children are concerned about the environment and that comes over in their writing."