School team wins quiz final (From Witney Gazette)

School team wins quiz final

7:30am Thursday 3rd July 2008 in Witney By David Horne

FOUR young master minds came through a nerve-wracking final to be crowned quiz champions of south east England.

The quartet of pupils in the Batt CE Primary School team, from Witney, booked their place by winning area heats and regional heats for west Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire and Bucks.

They travelled to Reigate for the final of the Inter-School Quiz Championship 2008 where they up against nine other school teams from London, Surrey, Sussex, Essex and Hampshire.

Alexander Gunasekera, 11, Bethany Howard, 10, Matthew Lock, nine, and Oliver Walker, seven, were put through their paces with 50 multiple choice questions ranging from classical and pop music to chemistry and current affairs.

Bethany said: "It was nerve-wracking and exciting" and her team mate Alexander added: "We were pleased when we got into the lead and kept it until the end."

Head teacher Chris Payne said the school was thrilled. "The children were superb and worked together as a team really well. It is a great achievement to win against schools from such a wide area of the country," he added.