FIVE pupils from Ribblesdale High School in Clitheroe used their French skills to win a Young Enterprise contest held in Brussels.

Laura-Jayne Eastham, Steve Hickey, Tara Begi, Adam Kenyon and Andrew Fletcher, all aged 15 or 16, competed against French-speaking schools from France, Belgium and Quebec to win the top prize of a glass trophy. They were the only English-speaking school in the competition and were up against 12 other firms. The youngsters represented the 25 pupils who run the school's Young Enterprise company, Phoenix, which produces designs on glass, decorative boxes and picture frames. They had to market their company in a television-style commercial speaking in French. Given three minutes to convince an audience of 600 people from all over Europe, they used a James Bond theme and performed a play based around their products. The pupils were accompanied by French teacher Deborah Thorpe and Tina Carswell from Rectella International, the business advisers for the firm.

The Young Enterprise scheme provides an opportunity for young people aged 15 to 19 to run their own mini-firms with help from local businesses. Teacher Neil Ashworth said: "It's been a lot of hard work but also a lot of fun, and they have thoroughly enjoyed it. They did really well to win as they were the only English-speaking school in the contest."

Last year's Ribblesdale firm, Paragon, produced a board game and an American-style leaving book. They reached the national finals of the competition, with a four-day all-expenses-paid trip to London for the firm's 24 members.

Picture shows Ribblesdale School's winning team - Laura-Jayne Eastham, Andrew Fletcher, Tara Begi, Adam Kenyon and Steve Hickey.

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