HIGH Down Junior School has been named best school in a prestigious writing competition.

The Portishead school came out on top in the annual Threshold Prize contest, which was set up to encourage children across the South West to write and to nurture interest in the English language.

Year six pupils attended a workshop with poet Colin McFarlane to gain inspiration before putting their literary skills to use writing their own poems.

Twenty of the entries from High Down were shortlisted in the contest, two were then highly commended and two were named winners. The winning poems were included in a book produced by the Threshold Prize charity.

Being named best school in the competition, High Down Juniors also received a cheque for �250 to buy new books for the school library.