St Bartholomew's School, in Newbury, raises thousands of pounds for wellbeing projects with a walk around Speen Moors

PUPILS at a Newbury school covered more than 10,000km collectively as they celebrated the importance of health and wellbeing.

Staff and students at St Bartholomew’s School were joined by parent volunteers for a 6km walk across Speen Moor this month, raising £11,500 for student wellbeing and environmental projects at the same time.

The Health and Wellbeing Day also saw former Wales international rugby player, Andries Pretorius, and high performance and lifestyle coach Tanya Lesley deliver workshops to all the students; an initiative supported by Berkshire Youth.

Headteacher Julia Mortimore said it had been “wonderful” to see all the pupils engaged in the day’s events.

She added: “The atmosphere in the school was fantastic. Whether taking part in the sponsored walk, hearing from our visiting speakers or challenging themselves in the whole school quiz, it was wonderful to see our students so engaged and enthused by a day focused on their wellbeing.”

Year 7 pupil Hannah Bosley said: “It was nice to not be in lessons but I also liked it because we went through places I often wouldn’t have.”

Classmate Emily Johnstone added: “I liked going on the walk and doing different things instead of normal lessons because we got to learn things about our health and wellbeing.”

“I enjoyed the fact that we were ending the week with a nice walk,” said fellow year 7 pupil Miraya Srivastava. “After the hectic house cross country and open evening, it was just a good bit of relaxation. The talks were also equally full of information about very important facts all St Bart’s students needed to know.”

Ellen Clinch, a parent helper at the event, said: “It was lovely to come together as a school community after all this time.”