PUPIL poets who are raising vital awareness of mental health are set to perform their work live on stage.

The talkative teenagers at Port Glasgow High School have penned their own poem about the importance of talking openly.

They will perform the hard-hitting poem at the final of the Scottish Youth Poetry slam competition accompanied by pupils from the school's music department who have been working alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Pupils Finlay Boyd, 13, and Leah Gallagher, 14, who are both in third year, have written the poem which will be performed as a group.

Finlay said: "It is about how traffic can represent the stress of mental health.

"It talks about how physical traffic and mental health are similar.

"We feel that a lot of teenagers go through it and don't want to talk to adults and maybe want to talk to people their own age.

"It's so important that people speak about mental health."

Leah added: "I think a lot of young people are too scared but we want to get the message across that there is always someone to talk to."

The school won the competition last year and the winning pupils went on to perform for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Pauline Barclay, acting depute head, said: "Last year, it was amazing to see the transformation in the pupils.

"At the start they were quite timid but their confidence grew."

Viv Gee, who is a comedian, actor and writer, has been working closely with the pupils, who are in S2 and S3, to develop their poem.

For the first time this year, the pupils will perform the poem with music from their classmates.

Composer Euan Stevenson, who works with the competition organisers Confab and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), has been working with the music department to produce an improvised piece of music.

Craig Hart, a music teacher at the school, added: "It's good fun and it's nice to see the kids get the chance to be creative."

The pupils will perform two individual poems and a group poem at the final on October 31 at the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock.