The 12 Year Nine pupils docked at Spillers Wharf, Newcastle, after sailing from Portsmouth on the 60-metre square rigged sail training vessel Stavros S Niarchos.

Also aboard were fellow students from the sister schools - The King's Academy in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough; and Emmanuel College, Gateshead; all sponsored by Sir Peter Vardy's Emmanuel Schools Foundation.

Trinity student David Hartley said: "It has been really good, a fantastic experience.

"Climbing the rigging was scary at first but you soon got used to it. It was great fun steering the helm.

"The weather varied and we were all seasick one day. But we got over that and it's the best thing I have ever done."

Sir Peter Vardy, who met the students as the ship docked on the Tyne, said: "This has been a tremendous experience for them.

"Some of the children have never been away from home let alone on a tall ship.

"It has pushed them outside their traditional comfort zone and helped to develop their characters.

"This is something they will never forget and hopefully we will be able to do more things like this for them in the future."

The children received training from a salaried crew of six and 13 experienced volunteers with the Tall Ships Youth Trust.

After training in dock, they set off around the coast on their voyage with each young crew member getting involved in helming, setting and stowing the sails, scrubbing the decks, keeping a lookout and working in the galley.

The Tall Ships Youth Trust, incorporating the Sail Training Association, is a registered charity founded in 1956 and dedicated to the personal development of young people aged 16 to 25 through the crewing of tall ships.

The total cost of the expedition was £30,000, 40 per cent of which was met by ESF under its Building People programme with donations from other supporters and the students' own fund-raising.

The students from Trinity Academy in Thorne are - James Felton, Callum Fox, Samuel Grimes, Petra Harrison, Jodie Harrison, David Hartley, Daisy McMurdo, Rio Muscroft, Maryna Petriv, Natasha Redmile, Owen Taylor and Ellie Williams.