THE voices of 120 children rang out during an evening of music at Okehampton College last month.

Primary school children from Bridestowe, Chagford, Hatherleigh, Lew Trenchard, Lydford, Northlew and Okehampton joined music students from the college to perform Firework, Rule the World and Sing.

The event was organised to celebrate the Okehampton Learning Community.

The varied programme comprised a mix of joint school singing with individual school performances, including choirs, a brass band, a steel pan group and a recorder group.

In a celebration of achievement outside the classroom, mayor of West Devon Cllr Bill Cann presented certificates to children who had attained silver and gold Children's University Awards.

The mayor expressed thanks to parents for helping their children join in with the variety of activities promoted by the Children's University scheme.

The highly successful national project encourages and rewards extra-curricular learning and is backed by research which shows that children who engage with out of school learning are more likely to do well in school.

The scheme has been running in the Okehampton Learning Community for a year and received support locally from Okehampton United Charity, which was represented at the concert by chairman Allenton Fisher and clerk Karen Percival.

William Bennett, Isabel Chapman, Emma Arnold, Oliver Johns and James Close all collected gold awards for attending 100 hours of Children's University activities, and Holly Arthurs, Eleanor Chapman, Thomas Parks, Harry Parks, Thomas Bertram, James Neath and Jamie Parks received their silver awards for 65 hours of learning.

The Okehampton Learning Community consists of Okehampton College and eleven feeder schools who work closely to give children extra opportunities and experiences.

It also organises joint training for staff, works to produce consistent policies and shares best practice.

The event was organised by Community Lynx CIC on behalf of the OLC. Community Lynx expressed thanks to Okehampton College for hosting the event, Val Berry for conducting the joint songs, to teachers, parents, volunteers and the youngsters involved.