PUPILS have been showing off their skills as the gamers of the future - by writing them.

The Mini Game "jam" brought together nearly 100 children from 18 schools across Glasgow to develop a computer game in a day.

Using the block coding programme Scratch and under the guidance of West College lecturer Amanda Wilson, the youngers took over the Mitchell Library last week for the final of the jam.

St Paul's Primary in Whiteinch and Corpus Christi Primary in Knightswood both made the final. Their combined Team St Corps came second with a mix of St Paul's pupils Rebbeca Speirs and Alizah Ali and Corpus Christi pupils Kyle Young and Telmo Castro.

Their game was a Scottish history quiz and their teamwork was highlighted by judges as a key factor in them doing so well in the citiy final. The winning team was from Shawlands Primary.

Amanda Wilson explained: "The Mini Game Jam is an event that I started four years ago which came out of my PhD research.

"The children are taught Scratch in school and then they go to heats in their local secondary schools which more than 400 children did this year and three teams from each heat then get through to the final.

"On the day of the final they are given the theme 'Scotland' and then had to create a game based on that theme.

"The children were helped by volunteers from West College Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University, Morgan Stanley and Glasgow Libraries.

"It's a great way to activley encourage children to not just be consumers of games but to get them to realise that they can create their own and possibly even start to think about careers in the industry."

Bailie Cameron, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Lifelong Learning added: “This is a wonderful way to instil and encourage a passion for digital skills in our young people and they love it.

“Who knows, maybe we have the next ‘Minecraft’ creator in our midst in Glasgow.”