Pupils showed off their tech expertise when they won a competition to design a new app.

The computer-savvy kids were tasked with designing a new social media app or website for teenagers and presented their creations to a panel of judges in a competition organised by the Clear Computing company.

The pupils were told to take into consideration the rise in cyber bullying and inappropriate comments on social media, with Internet Security Day happening on February 10.

The Littlehampton Academy (TLA) entered two teams of four students, both of whom were shortlisted by the judges, along with a team from The Forest School in Horsham.

This is the second year in a row that teams from the academy have reached the final three, and one team went on to win.

Beth de Claire was part of winning team Wham Bazo, which designed a revision and homework advice forum for students at secondary schools, colleges and universities.

Their idea included a personal profile with interests and specialist subjects, a question and answer feed with a leader board and reward system, a page for advertising internships and an advice page on bullying and cyber bullying.

Beth said: “I enjoyed the experience a lot and learnt all that goes into designing an app from the design process to manage set up costs and funds.”

In their brief they were told to consider design, functionality, finance, security and marketing and they were supported by industry mentors.

These mentors included representatives from Clear Computing Ltd, Scerri Solutions, Darren Crabb Wealth Management, ESET, NatWest, Brightec and Vantage Professional Risks.

Their projects were then presented to a panel of experts from local and national businesses modelled on the television show Dragon’s Den.

In total 14 teams from five West Sussex schools took part. They were Durrington High School, The Forest School, The Littlehampton Academy, Chatsmore Catholic High School and St Phillip Howard Catholic High School.

Rob Josephs, coordinator of student partnership and leadership at Littlehampton, said: “I was really pleased and proud of the creativity that our students showed in designing their apps and social media platforms.

“Both teams demonstrated a clear vision and direction for their ideas and worked really effectively as a team.”

He added: “We were up against some stiff competition from some great teams across the county and look forward to competing again next year.”

Barnaby Hall, managing director of Clear Computing, said: “The day was everything we hoped it would be and we were very impressed with all the student ideas and were highly impressed with their knowledge on the issues surrounding internet safety in a social media context.

“We look forward to this growing again for next year’s event.”