Clere pupils on top of the world
Children to get global audience as 'kit carriers' for ParaAthletics event at Olympic Stadium
THE CLERE school has beaten off competition from hundreds of others across the country for its pupils to be selected as ‘kit carriers’ at the World ParaAthletics Championships in London.
Between July 19 and July 23, PE curriculum leader Richard Peters and PE teacher Corinne King will take 10 pupils from the Burghclere school to the Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Park in London to take part in the ParaAthletics event.
Mr Peters said: “This is an amazing honour for our school, especially given the fact that it was chosen from hundreds of schools over the country.
“We are looking forward to tuning in to see the students – and staff – ‘performing’ live in front of millions across the world.”
To celebrate the achievement, The Clere School held a Paralympic Festival on Monday, June 26.
The event was run by the team who will be attending the World ParaAthletics Championships.
Events at the festival included wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, sitting javelin, guided running and blind football.
School spokeswoman Nicola Hughes said: “The event was great fun and was won by Kingsclere Primary School.”
Numerous schools in the Newbury and Andover districts took part, including Burghclere, Kingsclere, The Willows, Falkland and St Martin’s CE Primary School.
Kingsclere School governor Trevor Pitman accompanied the two Kingsclere teams who placed first and third.
He said: “It was a really good learning experience. It was not just a sports competition.
“They were beginning to understand what it was like having a disability and just being able to sit, but still able to throw a javelin.”
Mrs Hughes said: “The aims of the festival were simply to educate and raise an awareness of disability in sport. It provided pupils with a small insight into the obstacles that all Paralympians have to overcome in order to participate in any form of sporting activity.”
The Clere School applied earlier this year and was chosen as one of the major suppliers of ‘kit carriers’ at the ParaAthletics at the Olympic Stadium in London.
