STUDENTS from The Castle School in Taunton shone in a regional Chinese language challenge.

Fourteen year seven and eight students took part in the Bristol-China Partnership’s first West of England Mandarin Challenge.

The event, held in Bristol, was designed to promote awareness and understanding of Chinese language and culture, and saw students read poems, sing songs, and perform a short play.

The Castle students teamed up with Haygrove School in Bridgwater – the only other state school in Somerset where students learn Mandarin.

The Castle-Haygrove partnership won the overall award for the “greatest contribution to developing understanding of Chinese language and culture”.

The prize was £100, which was split between the two schools, and a Chinese dictionary.

The Castle’s year seven group also came second in the spoken language category and won a £40 prize.