SIX whizzkids from Palatine High School have achieved national recognition for their work involving blind people.

In a pioneering venture lasting more than two years students from the South Shore school worked on a project to bring access to computers and the Internet to visually impaired people in the community.

The pupils, aged 14, have now been shortlisted for the national finals of the Tesco Our School Awards for their work to help visually impaired people.

The computer whizzkids initially created a website for the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Society for the Blind giving information about facilities and services that the society can offer and other information about visual impairment.

And the team created a training package to familiarise visually impaired people with computers and introduce them to the Internet.

Headteacher John McNaughton said: "For their initiative, commitment and ingenuity the team thoroughly deserve this prestigious award.

"We are delighted that Tesco have acknowledged the students' efforts concerning this disadvantaged section of the community."

Assistant headteacher Frank Shipway added: "The students can feel justifiably proud of this national recognition. The real pleasure however was in watching a group of 14-year-olds working with blind adults and bringing them to a world to which they had hitherto been denied."

The national finals of the Tesco awards will be held in London on November 29. The website created by the pupils can be visited at www.bfwsb.co.uk.