A GROUP of York teenagers with a flair for film-making will find out next month whether their message of how to behave on the bus has won a national award.

Ellie Boyes, a Year 11 student at Danesgate Community, came up with the idea for a seven-minute film called Ticket To Ride after hearing bus passengers complain about the actions of other pupils.

She responded by asking them to come to the pupil referral unit’s Christmas fair and see the other side of the story.

She and her friends on Danesgate’s expressive arts course then enlisted the help of bus operator First, which allowed them the use of one of its buses for a day’s filming, to tell their tale of how pupils’ behaviour affects perception of a school, with Ellie’s sister and nephew playing the role of passengers.

The film has already won the North Yorkshire heats of the national Crimebeat Awards, which rewards projects designed to reduce or prevent crime and benefit the community. The £1,000 prize was used to buy new iPads for the course.

Ellie and fellow pupil Jack Johnson will go to London on March 17 with expressive arts teacher Ellen Cook and teaching assistant Keith Nixon to present their film at the national finals, as well as taking an open-top bus tour of the city and a spin on the London Eye.

Victory will bring another £1,000 prize, and Ellen said: “The film makes the students think about their community and what the community thinks of Danesgate.

“It’s another development in our expressive arts work, which has previously seen us win an award from The Prince’s Trust, and it’s great that it involves all the students at Danesgate.”