AN arts college is flying the flag for England in an international project to promote awareness of different cultures.

Whitefield's Elms Bank Specialist Arts College - formerly known as Elms Bank High School - hosted a visit of 20 delegates from Belgium, Sweden, Crete, Turkey, Romania, Portugal, Lithuania and Italy.

The event was part of a conference to develop ideas for Elms Bank's project on festivals.

So far, Elms Bank and schools from Belgium, Sweden and Romania are signed up to the Comenius Socrates project which is being handled by the Central Bureau of the British Council. Delegates can choose their own theme and Elms Bank is focusing on festivals and, in particular, Bonfire Night.

During the event at the Ripon Avenue school, the children played music they had written, displayed paintings and performed a a fireworks dance.

Headteacher Lynn Lines said: "All these will be put into a teaching package.

"This has spin-offs in terms of getting to speak to children from other countries, using different languages and understanding different people's cultures. We are going to look at schools which operate in different ways and exchange materials.

"We hope that pupils and two staff from Elms Bank can travel to Romania."

The international visitors were welcomed to the town by the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Steve Treadgold, during a visit to his offices at the town hall.