THE STEP-UP from primary to senior school is being eased for a small group of youngsters during the summer holidays.

They have given up a week of the six-week break to work on a project called Doors and Bridges, with an artists' cooperative at Bearpark Community Centre, near Durham City.

They are being encouraged to express various thoughts and ideas relating to childhood memories through to teenage years.

Project coordinator Romey Chaffer said they were particularly concentrating on the foreboding of primary school leavers, unsure of what lies ahead as they prepare to move on to secondary education.

"This is a pilot project and because of the age of the youngsters we are working around the theme of moving from one school to another.

"It is the transition from junior to secondary school, looking at what they are leaving behind and things they think they are moving on to, which they may or may not be worried about."

The young artists are creating a two-way door with a frame and a symbolic bridge on which they will paint images representing their ideas about what they are about to encounter.

Their efforts are being filmed to be shown at Durham's DLI Museum. The finished work will go on show at County Hall.

Durham County Council education authority's study support team has supported the project.