PUPILS from William Beamont High School have been highly commended by the judges in a national outdoor adventure competition.

Despite scoring highly in the region, the two teams narrowly missed out on one of 12 places in the grand final of the Kielder Challenge after competing in one of 60 regional heats in May.

The Kielder Challenge is a national outdoor adventure competition for groups of 13 to 16-year-olds and is designed to encourage teamwork and communication.

The competition is organised by UK outdoor access charity Fieldfare Trust and is supported by HSBC Education Trust.

Ian Newman, managing director of Fieldfare Trust, said: "William Beamont scored exceptionally highly in their regional heat but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough to win a final place.

"They were up against stiff opposition though, the judges had a tough job this year."