YEAR 7 staff and pupils at St Mary's Catholic High School, in Blackpool, abandoned their regular timetable recently in the name of friendship.

Teacher Louise Morgan explained that the aim of "Friendship Day" was to enable pupils within their form groups to get to know each other personally in a relaxed, friendly environment.

She said: "The pupils all had a day off the normal timetable and took part in a variety of activities that encouraged interaction with each other."

They spent the day with their form tutors working on personal profiles and writing letters describing their feelings about starting a new school. These will be opened in six months time and it is hoped the pupils will look back and see how much they have progressed in terms of confidence and their attitude to school.

They also played games and generally got to know each other in a social environment as opposed to normal school lessons.

Cath Binks, head of Year 7, said: "We enjoyed a tremendous day together and learnt about each other while having a lot of fun. Judging by the number of happy faces at the end of the day I can safely say the day was very successful."

Pictured at the end of Friendship Day are (left to right) Year 7 pupils Stacey Park, Faye Walker, Jennie Higgins and Alison Hargreaves.