Youngsters from Marpool Primary School have proved their literature knowledge, winning a quiz competition.

Competing against five other schools in the region, the winning team consisted of Finn, aged six, Daniel, aged five, Indigo, aged four and Esmae, aged three.

Challenges during the Budleigh Literary Festival Schools’ Quiz, included guessing the name of a book from emojis and a ‘quick quotes quest’, which asked the pupils to conclude which books the quotes were from.

There was also a ‘rainbow round’ where all questions were answered with a colour, and a ‘say my title’ section which asked the children to guess the title of a book from a cryptic description.

Aside from the coveted title, prizes included a literature hamper bursting with children’s books and the chance to have Marpool Primary School engraved on the competition trophy and a Devon, Dartington Crystal bowl which the school will keep for a year.

Headteacher, Rachel Pattison said: “I am very proud of Team Marpool.

“Well done to Finn, Daniel, Indigo and Esmae and a special thanks to our Librarian, Mrs Sharkey.

“We have had a few years of finishing in second place, so we were even more delighted to be this year’s champions.

“There was some very tough opposition from the other participating schools, and it was an extremely close-run competition. Congratulations to everyone who took part and a big thanks to the Budleigh Literary Festival.”

The winning team expressed their joy at finishing in first place.

Daniel said: “I was happy to win, even without the prizes.”

Finn added: “Finally in my last year, Marpool have won.” Indigo said: “It was fun.”

Now in its fifth year, the 2020 competition, which tests children’s knowledge and love of books, moved to an online event for the first time in the festival’s history.

Sponsored by Lord Clinton's Charitable Trust, it runs every year and is part of the Educational Outreach Programme of the Budleigh Literary Festival.

David Marston, who leads the Education and Outreach Team, said, "Congratulations to Marpool on being the winners of the 2020 BSLF Children's Literary Quiz. This is always an incredibly challenging but fun event and it's really heartening to see how so many children stepped up to the challenge.”