FINDING new ways to get much-needed funding for school projects has always been a pretty beastly business. But as education reporter Haydn Lewis found out, City of York Council's latest way of getting schools to compete for a £60,000 cash pot really did have "teeth".

THERE'S always been fierce competition for any money going begging in the field of education.

But the most recent initiative to get York youngsters involved in the process really is the stuff of monsters and legend.

If you thought dragons only ever surfaced in children's story books, think again.

Because bystanders at York's Next Generation Gym on Monday would have had hard and fast evidence that they actually do exist.

Seven teams from schools across York turned out for the Dragons' Lair event, to compete for their share of a £60,000 pot of City of York Council money for their various projects.

But it wasn't just being given away, because, as the name suggests, the youngsters first had to convince a team of six "dragons" - myself included - that their idea was worth investing taxpayers' money in.

For anyone unfamiliar with TV's Dragon's Den, the show features budding businessmen and women having to bid for cash from a panel of hardened businessmen and women, such as fitness mogul Duncan Bannatyne.

Among the bids put before the panel at Next Generation Gym were a £15,000 outdoor drama space for teenagers at Canon Lee School, £10,000 for a library at Derwent School, £10,000 for an outdoor seating and landscaped area at Huntington School, £10,000 for an indoor sports and performance area at Joseph Rowntree School, £2,000 for a Japanese Garden at Lord Deramore's, an outdoor classroom at St Lawrence's costing £7,278, and a climbing wall at Stockton-on-the-Forest costing £5,000.

The presentations ranged from a group of singing youngsters clad in climbing gear from Stockton, to Jo Ro teenagers clad in gear for sports ranging from fencing to rugby.

All of them, youngest and oldest, were cross-questioned by the panel, and marked on how much the students themselves had been involved in and had researched the project, as well as the long-term benefits of their bid.

They got bonus marks for the originality of their idea, and imaginative nature of their presentation.

Outside the "dragons' room" in the hall, the judges then got to go round pupils displays, which involved everything from footage on laptops, scale models and colourful wall hangings, to a jar of mud collected from Huntington School.

The day was the brainchild of the council's head of education planning Maggie Tansley, herself one of the York dragons.

She said: "The idea behind this event was to get pupils to involve themselves in the process of getting money for their school, and showing they really want the various projects they have been bidding for.

"We would like to run this event year-on-year if there is the political will to do that.

"It is quite intimidating for the pupils to come up in front of a panel of strangers and put their ideas up for scrutiny, but they all coped remarkably well."

Council education chief Carole Runciman said: "I think it's a brilliant idea, because it involves the children and young people.

"The main thing about this is that it means the money being spent is what the children in the school want and what the staff want.

"All the ideas we have seen here have been tremendous, you can tell the pupils who have come to the event have talked to the school, and they have put their thoughts on paper and come and stood up in front of us and had to bid for the money, which is very impressive."

At the end of the day the panel were able to announce that all the bids were successful, to a jubilant hall of expectant youngsters. A host of prizes were handed out.

The dragons all agreed that the sheer quality of the presentations and the amount of effort that went into them were quite extraordinary, and in the end choosing the best ones came down to personal preference.

How they fared in the dragons' lair

The winners were:
* Top Scoring Project: Stockton-on-the-Forest Primary School.

Their prize:
Seven family tickets to York Maze, courtesy of Tom Piercy, owner of York Maze.

* Best Display: Lord Deramore's Primary School.

Their prize:
Six tickets for the Chinese State Circus, courtesy of the Grand Opera House, and the Chinese State Circus.

* Best Presentation: Joseph Rowntree School.

Their prizes:
Aesthetica magazine Annual subscription for their school, courtesy of Aesthetica, and eight £10 Borders vouchers, courtesy of City of York Council.

* All the projects got the full funding they had asked for.

* All the students also received Next Generation passes, courtesy of Next Generation Certificates.

The inquisitors

The York dragons were:
* Councillor Carole Runciman, executive member for children's Services, City of York Council.

* Cherie Federico, editor and co-founder of Aesthetica Arts Magazine, and The Press Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

* Maggie Tansley, head of education planning, City of York Council.

* Haydn Lewis, education reporter, The Press.

* Knavesmire Primary School student Rhianna Coote.

* Knavesmire Primary School student Oscar Brooks.