SCHOOLS throughout the borough were on "red alert" when they attended an event to re-inforce their commitment to tackling racism.

Pupils produced a series of hard-hitting posters, stories and poems for the Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) campaign which culminated in an awards ceremony at Radcliffe Civic Suite.

And former England soccer defender and local footballer Earl Barrett joined the youngsters to present the winning pupils with their prizes. Also attending was Bury FC favourite Lee Unsworth.

Show Racism the Red Card is an anti-racist charity that aims to produce accessible anti-racist educational resources and hundreds of schools take part in the competition annually.

Bury Council's curriculum and language access service (CLAS), which works in schools to support black and minority ethnic children, teamed up with the Asian Development Association of Bury (ADAB) to promote the competition.

Every primary, secondary and special school in the borough was provided with a video, CD-ROM and education pack and children were encouraged to use the materials to examine the issues around racism and how to tackle it in society.

More than 1,300 youngsters have used the packs in lessons so far.

Each participating school submitted three winning posters, poems or short stories to the CLAS who selected one piece from each school to be entered in the national competition. And 18 schools entered the local competition co-ordinated by Lyn Grant, a primary project manager from the CLAS.

Councillor Steve Perkins, executive member for lifelong learning, said: "Public bodies are obliged to foster good race relations and this has been an excellent way of getting our young people to think about the issues involved and relate them to their own life experiences."

At the awards ceremony, each child received a SRTRC certificate, badge and pen with the finalist from each school being presented with a T-shirt.

Award winners

St John's CE Primary, Bury: finalists, Dale Stainthorpe, Sithulisiwe Ndlovu and Simon Talbot (Year 6). Runners-up, Charlotte MacDonald, Hayley Fox, Nathan Barrington, Christina Wilkinson (Year 6). Katie Atkinson and Sophie Coleman (Year 5).

Whitefield Community Primary: finalist, Eloise Billington (Year 5). Runners-up, Abigail McEwen (Year 3), Carissa Quigg (Year 6).

Sedgley Park Community Primary, Prestwich: finalist, Yuessef El-Sheikh (Year 6). Runners-up, Ayesha Zeria and Waqas Saleem (Year 6).

Chapelfield Community Primary, Radcliffe: finalist, Amy Lewis (Year 4). Runners-up, Nicole Garvin and Bethany Crook (Year 4).

St Thomas's CE Primary, Bury: finalist, Qurat-Ul-Ain Ali (Year 6). Runners-up, Zahara Ghani (Year 3), Mariam Zulfikar (Year 6).

St John with St Mark CE Primary, Bury: finalist, Lacey Young (Year 5). Runners-up, Chloe Corcoran and Salma Akhtar (Year 5).

Christ Church CE Primary, Bury: finalist, Lauren Dougherty (Year 5).Runners-up, Harry Sharmen and Jack Fairclough (Year 5).

Chantlers Community Primary, Bury: finalist,Charlotte Edwards (Year 6). Runners-up, Hannah Jones and Samantha Rose (Year 6).

Woodbank Community Primary, Bury: finalist, Scott Tierney (Year 6). Runners-up, Sabika Hussan and Lauren Clayton (Year 6).

St Peter's CE Primary, Bury: finalist, Matthew Bell (Year 5). Runners-up, Lauren Howard (Year 4) and Kamo Kupi (Year 6).

Lowercroft Community Primary, Bury: finalist, Jessica Howard (Year 4). Runners-up, Yasmin Elliott and Bethanie Walker (Year 4).

Ribble Drive Community Primary, Whitefield: finalist, Reece McCormack (Year 3). Runners-up, Phillip Higgin (Year 6) and Katy Marsh (Year 5).

All Saints CE Primary, Whitefield: finalist, Rebecca Cann (Year 4). Runners-up, Hannah Williams (Year 6) and Rebecca Barton (Year 5).

St Luke's CE Primary, Bury: finalist, Bobby McHale (Year 5). Runners-up, Charlotte Rowlands (Year 6) and Kirsty Hunt (Year 5).

Prestwich Community High School: finalist, Amy Kelly (Year 9). Runners-up, Saj Seedat (Year 10) and Matthew Salt (Year 9).

Derby Community High School, Bury: finalist, Yousaf Kayani (Year 8). Runners-up, Aisha Mahmood and Chenice Headley (Year 8).

Coney Green Community High School, Radcliffe: finalist, Georgia Orzel (Year 7). Runners-up, Shaun Kittrick and Stacey Cooke (Year 7).

Parrenthorn Community High School, Prestwich: finalist, Helen Ashton (Year 7). Runners-up, Polly Rhind and Natasha Brodie (Year 7).