A GROUP of around 70 young people dressed as clowns and danced their way to success in the regional heats of a national competition.

Students from The Gryphon School, based in Sherborne, created a piece about the dangers of talking to strangers online for their entry into 2016 Be Your Best Rock Challenge Southern Open Final A on Monday, June 20.

Supported by their drama teacher, Holly Young, the girls and boys travelled to Portsmouth Guildhall for the event, which saw 10 schools from across five southern counties take part. The Oak Academy LeAF Campus in Bournemouth, Corfe Hills School and Queen Elizabeth’s School in Wimborne also took part in various days of the Southern Open Finals.

Following their eight-minute performance on the stage in front of a packed audience, The Gryphon School found out that they had won the top place, which was presented to them by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Cllr David Fuller.

He said: "It was an absolutely marvellous evening. I had the pleasure of coming last year and the standard then was very high and this year it was very, very high indeed."

Teacher, Holly Young, said: "We started rehearsing in January this year ready for the first heat in March. The school has to create an eight-minute performance and choose a theme, which they decided was You'll Never Know Who I Really Am.

"We looked at how people online hide behind their computers so we used the idea of a big, bright circus with colourful costumes and then half-way through the performance, they rip off their masks to reveal their faces."

She said that the piece then features two friends who are lured by online predators into a world which they do not want to be in.

Up to 20,000 young people from over 310 schools across the UK have been involved in this year's Be Your Best Rock Challenge event.

The Southern Open Finals were supported by Pauline Quirk Academy, Ansvar Insurance and the Association of Chief Police Officers Criminal Records Office.

Teams of between 20 and 135 young people are invited to take part in the event, in collaboration with their teachers, parents and the wider communities. It aims to inspire, engage and motivate young people to make healthy and positive lifestyle choices. The organisers say that each show provides the opportunity for young people to experience an adrenalin-based high through performing live on a professional stage rather than using tobacco, alcohol or other drugs.