Richmond School and Sixth Form College’s PE Department was delighted, once again, to host Richmondshire’s eagerly-awaited annual inter-school cross country competition for primary school pupils across the region. Eight hundred young runners, from Years 3 to 6, were split into 16 races, with boys and girls running in two heats in their respective year groups. Although highly competitive, the runners enjoyed an outstanding, fun-packed day, with many amazing performances by the young athletes who demonstrated a great team spirit and incredible energy.
The college’s CTEC Sports students played a prominent part in the delivery of the event, supporting the teaching staff to ensure the competition was delivered with slick organisation, in what was a very fast-paced atmosphere. As well as looking after groups throughout the day, the students were pivotal in encouraging all the pupils to try their hardest, motivating and cheering them on throughout the course to the finishing line. With such vast numbers of children taking part, the event simply could not have taken place without the young leaders’ valuable contribution.
Hannah Speakman, Year 13 CTEC Sport student said: “‘It was a brilliant event to watch and help at. As a leader, I was responsible for setting each group off from the start line. This required me to encourage younger participants and allowed me to support them to complete the whole course. The event was a great success and both the younger students and leaders had a thoroughly enjoyable day.”
Thirty-six schools across Richmondshire competed in the inclusive event, from the larger primary schools such as Richmond Methodist to smaller schools such as Arkengarthdale. With just nine pupils on role, Arkengarthdale Church of England School benefits enormously from large sporting gatherings, with its five runners proving that its quality not quantity that matters.
Clare Martin, Higher Level Teaching Assistant, who accompanied the Arkengarthdale students said: “The children from Arkengarthdale excel in confidence, sportsmanship and taking part in these wider community events. This enables them to access and assess their own sporting abilities against others. Their sense of pride, in representing their school, is abundantly clear. Their determination and perseverance to achieve their individual goals is outstanding. This is reflected in their results, as all five of them were in the top 15 runners, across both heats. They leave these sporting events with more confidence and enthusiasm for their future in sport and thoroughly enjoy these fantastic opportunities.”
Lynsey Carruthers, event organiser and PE Teacher at Richmond School and Sixth Form College, commented: “It’s a great event that brings all of the schools in the area together to compete in a fun but challenging cross-country course. It’s a great opportunity to promote the school and the fantastic facilities that we have. It also provides the elite athletes with a chance to progress to competing at county level.”
The top-placed competitors from each heat qualify for the Level 3 School Games County cross-country final, which will take place in Dalby Forest in March 2019.
Neil Saunders, Deputy Headteacher at Michael Sydall in Catterick, concluded: “I just wanted to say thank you for the cross country, it went really well and was seamlessly organised! The course really reflected the level 3 standard and was definitely a challenge, so that was great!”