Exa Networks, which looks after the internet services for thousands of schools throughout the UK, ran the competition as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations.
The free internet connectivity prize also includes Exa’s SurfProtect which filters out unsuitable content to make web-searching safer for children.
The competition was open to any child, aged between five and 18, currently in full-time education at a school or college in the UK. To enter, pupils had to create a story, picture, PowerPoint, video or cartoon about either of the following: ‘What I think about the internet,’ or ‘The world in the next ten years.’ Or pupils could submit an entry about a topic of their own choice which could tie into a school project.
First prize went to Sydney Huntingford, aged six and in Year 2, from Lyndhurst First School in Worthing, West Sussex. His drawing of ‘why my family love the internet,’ won five years of free internet services from Exa Networks, worth up to £12,500. Sydney also won his choice of either the new Playstation 4, the new Xbox One or the new Ipad Air.
Second prize was won by Amber Warner, aged eight, from Thrapston Primary School near Kettering in Northamptonshire. Her PowerPoint presentation about the internet, created in her school’s newly formed ICT club, has won Thrapston Primary three years of free internet services worth up to £7,500 plus the new Ipad Mini Retina for herself.
In third place was Layla Lewis, aged 11, from Ralph Thoresby in Leeds. Her school, which is in the process of upgrading its IT services, will get two years of free internet connectivity worth up to £5,000 and Layla receives an iPod Touch.
Mark Cowgill, co-founder and managing director of Exa Networks, said: “We wanted to get as many of our customers as possible involved in our 10th birthday celebrations and a competition that students could enter, win themselves a great prize and benefit their school too seemed like a great idea.
“All the winning entries were outstanding and we have some well-deserved winners. Judging the competition was much harder than we anticipated as the standard was very high. Students sent us such a range of submissions about different topics using a variety of formats, from PowerPoint presentation to hand drawn pictures.”