A TEAM of five students from Hanley Castle High School has reached the final 11 of a national competition.

Year 11 pupils Peter Catherall, Heather Ellis, Sid Flinton, Ellie Kilby and Harry Merrifield won the West Midlands round of the Astrella Innovation Challenge.

Students were asked to design a mobile app promoting a healthy lifestyle and the youngsters from Hanley Castle wowed judges with their app - ParentActive.

This impressed the judging panel with the level of creativity and depth of thinking involved in the team’s submission.

As a result the group has been shortlisted to represent the West Midlands at the Royal Institute of Great Britain in London.

Science teacher Kate McCrum said she was proud of the students' achievements: "It was a really tough competition and tough challenge to do.

"We were really surprised and excited to have got through with only 10 other schools.

"It's amazing that we're in the final 11 and I'm really pleased and proud of the children for putting in the effort to come up with the winning design for our region."

The pupils are busy refining their design ready for final submission on Monday.

If ‘Parent Active’ is selected as the winning entry, the groups app will be made by app developers and will be available for free download.

The competition is designed to increase interest amongst UK school students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and careers.

It was launched last month by TV celebrity Rachel Riley and has seen students aged 14 to 16 combine creativity and innovation across the country.