Pupils at Harborough school shine during a worldwide computer coding competition

Welland Park School pupils Luca, 12, Jasmin,12, Jai,12, and Ben,11, who gained second place in the Codementum online tournament of 96 schools.
PICTURE: ANDREW CARPENTER — Welland Park School pupils Luca, 12, Jasmin,12, Jai,12, and Ben,11, who gained second place in the Codementum online tournament of 96 schools. PICTURE: ANDREW CARPENTER

Four young brilliant hi-tech whizzkids at Market Harborough’s Welland Park Academy are celebrating storming a worldwide computer coding competition.

Thrilled Jasmine, 12, Jai, 11, Luca, 11, and Ben, 11, are all flying high in cyberspace after finishing second in the tough tournament for 11-13-year-olds involving schools from a staggering 96 countries.

Jasmine, who lives in Market Harborough like her three team-mates, said: “We are all so pleased to have done so well.

“It’s brilliant that we came second up against very talented young computer game players from all over the world.

“We were given a certain amount of code and we had to collect all the potions,” said Jasmine.

“And we had to stay alive because a lion was trying to kill us!”

“We had all day to play as much as we could and we all really enjoyed it.”

Julie McBrearty, the principal at Welland Park Academy, said: “We are very proud of them, this is an incredible achievement.

“It’s fantastic that Jasmine, Jai, Luca and Ben got so close to winning this high-standard competition up against extremely-gifted teams from 96 countries across the globe.

“And it’s so empowering and inspiring that they are doing this computer programming here and learning vital skills which will serve them so well for the rest of their lives.”