There's news from two competitions for second-level students that were announced in Media Scope last autumn.

The Transition Year essay competition sponsored by Trust, an organisation for homeless people, has extended its deadline for entries to February 28th, because of the disruption that has taken place this school year. Essays on the theme of "The Outsider" will be accepted by post or e-mail, and more information can be found at www.trust-ireland.ie. The overall winner will get a laptop computer, while four runners-up will each win a mini-disc player; all five winners will also get £100 in book and music tokens.

The adjudicators of Comortas Fiseain TG4 have drawn up a shortlist of three finalists, who will all see their proposed films professional produced in the coming months. Alexandra College, Dublin, appears on the list for the third year running, joined by Midleton CBS/St Mary's High School in Midleton, Co Cork, and Meanscoil Thoraigh from Tory Island, Co Donegal. The winners will represent Ireland at the Ciak Junior international film festival in Italy from May 31st to June 3rd.