Hold the front page!

As the deadline approached, information was still pouring into the newsroom at Thomas, Lord Audley School in Colchester.

Pupils were taking part in the Times Educational Supplement's annual competition to find the best student newspapers in the country.

Breaking news was faxed and e-mailed to them throughout the day, and they also had to watch the TV news to make sure that they got in all the up-to-the-minute stories.

Teacher Sarah Byham said: "The paper has been running in the school for a few years, but we usually only publish once every half term. Yesterday's was a special edition for the competition.

"The Times sends us information and we have to make the paper up on the day."

Year 9 pupils usually write and publish the paper to raise money for research into cystic fibrosis.

"They really seem to enjoy it, and they had a great time doing the competition," said Mrs Byham. "They couldn't believe how stressful it was as the deadline approached."

Last year the school was highly commended in the competition and the young journalists were invited to the Houses of Parliament to pick up their prize.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.