Chatty pupils - not always popular with teachers - are the toast of a Colchester school after they won top spots in a modern foreign languages competition.

The Gilberd School took part in the Association of Language Learners' Have Your Say event, which is open to youngsters in years seven to ten across East Anglia.

Of 32 pupils who entered the preliminary rounds in March, 16 went on to the finals, held at Thomas Lord Audley School in Monkwick Avenue, Colchester.

There, they performed pre-learned dialogues and read previously unseen prose for the judges, who awarded the school first place for year seven German and third place for year ten French.

Valerie Winter, head of languages at the Brinkley Lane school, said more than 30 schools were represented in the competition.

"The standard of the competition was high, really high," she said.

"We enter every year, and for the past six years we have won a first prize each year in one category.

"We are really proud of the students and their achievements in languages," she added.

The Gilberd winners were Alexandra Zahariadi and Phoebe Walsh-Gamage, of year seven, and year ten's Thomas Arthur-Blades and Kirsten Goodridge.