School’s out for summer - but not for number 1 website

School may be out for summer for hundreds of youngsters up and down the UK, but for one group of inspired youngsters, there’ll be no winding down or wondering how they’ll keep themselves busy for the next few weeks.

Pupiline.net is a website written and produced by young people for young people and is the inspiration of 16-year-old Oli Watts who lives in Suffolk and goes to school in Colchester, Essex. The site has just been voted the number 1 education site in the August edition of Internet Monthly.

Oli originally created the site to help the victims of bullying after he was bullied himself at his previous school. Now he’s put together a team of young people and got business backing to help him develop the website into an e-magazine for 11-17 year-olds covering a wide range of issues and features.

The 10–strong team are all giving up their summer holidays to work on the website, to write and develop new ideas and features. They’ve been given their own production office by a leading internet firm, KeConnect who are based in Ipswich and who host the pupiline website.

The company is providing Oli and his team or writers and programmers with computer equipment and on-site professional support.

Oli, who is Pupiline editor and Managing Director of Pupiline Ltd said: "I always imagined I’d spend the summer holidays playing about with my computer, but I never dreamed my idea would lead to a summer job like this. It’s so exciting and I can’t believe how much help and support I’m getting.

"We’ll all be working really hard over the next six weeks to try to make pupiline.net the website for 11-17 year olds. Our hallmark is "for us by us" – we are an e-magazine written and produced by young people for young people and that’s what is at the heart of pupiline.net – that’s what makes us different."

Oli hopes in the longer term that he may attract major investment from backers who think he’s hit on a great idea!

- The Pupiline Team