SECONDARY school pupils are celebrating building links with their European neighbours after winning a competition with two schools in Germany and Portugal.

Tendring Technology College, in Frinton, took part in the European competition which runs in association with eTwinning - Europe’s largest online platform for school exchanges.

Pupils aged 14 to 16 presented their ideas for Europa 4.0 - Beam me to 2027 - predicting how issues such as society, technology, customs and fashion will change.

Their thoughts were documented online in a multimedia blog which saw them crowned as category winners.

Valentina Burley, a humanities and global learning co-ordinator, said: “The European Competition is one of the oldest creative competitions in Europe and has played an important part in the European integration since its inception.

“The motto was United in diversity - Europe between tradition and the modern age. The students discussed topics such as energy, future climate, water insecurity and urban development.

“In addition they also had fun creating ideas for topics like music and fashion, looking at these issues from their own perspective.”

The school has been part of eTwinning for the past three years and so far there are more than 170,000 registered schools from across the continent.

Four students - Lydia McFettridge, Emily Young, Richard Wedge and Quinn Atkins - already spent a week in Palermo, the capital of Sicily in Italy, exploring migration and refugees.