This has been a very difficult task - but a real pleasure. Pupils have worked really hard and I felt the sense of responsibility hanging over me.

I decided - by a narrow margin - to go for Fairfield Junior. They turned the adversity of the floods to their advantage. Narrowly behind them were Crosscrake and St Bernard - not much in it. Crosscrake by a squeak as runners up.

My further listening thoughts:

Cockermouth school - some assured voices....this was very easy to listen to, but also very different in style to the entries from the younger schools. This was a more Radio One style of show, while the primaries had gone for a speech based magazine approach. I'd gladly have had this on at home going about my chores. But a bit laid back. My question - what's it about? Be clear in your pitch: who are you... what are you doing...why are you doing it? Given the floods, throw in Cockrock, this should have been a top contender. It was a pleasant listen - there's clear ability and charm among the presentation team, but the programme needed a clearer focus. There were some good radio voices, very at ease with the microphone and I wouldn't be at all surprised to receive strong job applications from this lot in a year or so.

Crosscrake. They had really worked hard and thought through what they wanted to achieve . Good use of audio devices, also loads of energy and a sense of fun. I was smiling and laughing within seconds. This had clearly been produced - nice locallness, I learned something about the area. Audio levels were a bit suspect, but that might just be the way it reached me. I thought this had mostly been recorded in advance - but looks as though much of it was done live. Which is brave!

St Bernard School... again, very good indeed. Clear production effort and planning. Loved the variety of music from acoustic folk to rock. Clearly far, far too much talent for one school. So why did I mark it down - well, I'm asked to judge a radio programme rather than an audio showcase for the school. It's a fine line, but this just made the difference.

Fairfield - Having just lived through the floods they were given a rich source of inspiration and material. This gave them a clear editorial pitch, and they took full advantage. I was hooked from the opening seconds. It was a powerful and emotional listen. They also created a number of audio devices for their radio station. The adversity of the floods arguably gave them an unfair advantage when it came to this competition - but you play the card you're given and they did this well.

Warwick Bridge....once again some super enthusiasm, great imagination. It was a pleasure to listen to them and I really enjoyed it. The only reason I marked this down was that it felt less like a radio programme - more an audio project. A good try.

I'd be glad to feature some of the winning programme on BBC Radio Cumbria and to welcome a group of their pupils to the radio station.

Regards

n  Graham Moss n  Assistant Editor n  BBC Cumbria n