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What do you get when you cross St Bede’s Catholic Primary School with a cross country championship?

A cross country championship title for a second consecutive year!

Determined school pupils claimed the coveted title, running rings around the competition at the South Tyneside Cross Country Championships. True trailblazers in every sense of the word.

Putting their hearts and soles into the competition

The 41 pupils from Years 3-6 at the South Shields school quite literally ran away with the competition, finishing an impressive 43 points ahead of the rest of the field.

Wow, that’s winning… and then some!

The school, which is part of the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, was keen for as many children as possible to take part in the annual event, held at Temple Park.

There was much to celebrate. St Bede’s Year 3 and 4 boys and the Year 5 girls triumphed, winning team gold in their races, while the Year 3 girls also picked up silver medals for their team.

In true “teamwork makes the dream work” fashion, it was the efforts of all 41 pupils which won them the overall team championships, with St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School (Jarrow), and Cleadon Academy (Sunderland) claiming second and third place respectively.

That’s still a brilliant effort! Huge well done to those schools, too.

Staff bursting with pride at the result

Proud staff at St Bede’s say the children’s dedication and determination was key to their success, which is truly delightful to hear.
Pupils had regularly attended training sessions after school in the lead-up to the championship, whilst many even trained with their families at weekends. Practice makes perfect, so they say, and as such, pupils were able to achieve personal bests on the day.

Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, said: “Congratulations to every pupil involved in this magnificent achievement. It really is the ‘taking part’ that counts the most, but to have walked away with so many awards? Absolutely brilliant.

“Running is a great form of exercise, but it also helps kids build their self-esteem as well as learn about sportsmanship. This is a huge cause for celebration in so many ways!”

Coach and Year 3 teacher Brian McVittie said: “I was delighted how everyone supported each other at the event. While the children were pleased to retain the team shield, I was particularly proud of how many boys and girls were so enthusiastic to represent their school in cross country.

The children were so keen they even encouraged their parents to run with them at weekends. On the day, all of our runners were inspired by the amazing family support they received at Temple Park, as they were cheered around the course.

“I hope the success of the squad will encourage more children to get involved in future school sport events and more families to continue running together.”

The school’s cross-country captain, Year 6 pupil Matilda Mason, 10, said: “It was wonderful that the whole squad got to lift the shield together, as everyone had tried so hard. We all enjoyed being in a team with our friends and had a great afternoon at the finals.”

Brilliant effort from everyone involved – we feel out of breath just reading about the achievement!

St Bede’s Catholic Primary School is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School Programme click here.

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