NEWENT Community School will stage a special Schools' Question Time challenge this evening (Friday).

The school is one of just 14 in the UK to have reached the final stage of the nationwide contest.

The aim is to help pupils to develop citizenship and communication skills. The event is being staged with a £500 grant from the BT Education Programme.

If Newent's question time challenge is judged impressive enough, pupils will be asked to become part of a production team for a real BBC Question Time programme.

The school has attracted an impressive panel for the heat, including Mark Harper, a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party; Liz Boait, deputy leader of Gloucestershire County Council; Nathan Jones, a schools' councillor, and Tony Peckham, a school governor.