Forward-thinking Year 10 students from the Sanders Draper School in Hornchurch innovated their way to first prize in a London-wide inventors’ contest.

Joely Williams, Eric Turnova, Ryan Giles, Abbie Lewis and Sophia Woodstock went up against teams from nine other schools on Friday, May 17, in “Skill”, a Dragons’ Den-style competition in central London, organised by Visionpath Education.

The brief at the event, held at law firm Osborne Clarke’s office in London Wall, was to create something that would be of personal, environmental or technological value.

After five hours with professional mentors, the teenagers faced a panel of judges and gave a 90-second presentation about their invention – an app to help with bus travel.

The app, “Travel in Time”, would contain real-time information about how far away buses were, where stops were, and what bus numbers each user would need to complete a particular journey.

Despite stiff competition, they took home the prize of a £20 Top Shop voucher each and a trophy for the school.

Sanders Draper English teacher Tammy Summers said: “To get the chance to participate in an event like this is exciting for our Year 10s as they have been working exceptionally hard with controlled assessments as part of their GCSEs.

“The trip itself was a rewarding experience and to win it was exceptional – the competition was tough, but what a bonus.

“As well as teaching our students how to synthesise and evaluate ideas, the professional mentors strengthened the students’ team work skills by helping them recognise strength in themselves and their team members.”