Hartlepool schools skipping final champions crowned

Primary School across the town competed in the Annual Year 4 Skipping Festival at Millhouse Leisure Centre.

Skipping School Ltd, a specialist skipping activities company based in Leeds, run the project each year from January to May across the town, and this year they have engaged with 22 primary schools, which has seen 1,000 children involved.

This included initial skipping skill workshop sessions, and then ongoing practicing in the playground and PE lessons.

A total of four Skipping Festival heats were held back in March and April, and the ‘winners and runners-up’ from each for these were invited to the Borough Final.

They were Barnard Grove, Clavering, Jesmond Gardens, Hart, Sacred Heart RC, St Cuthbert’s RC, St Peter’s CoE in Elwick and West Park.

Each school brought a team of 30 skippers to compete on a range of individual and partnership skills, and long rope running and jumping over games, where points were scored on a point-per-jump basis.

Throughout the event each school also presented a skip-dance performance, a musically choreographed routine to show and share a range of other skipping skills.

At the conclusion of the event, all of the accumulated points were added together, and the winners with the highest score was Clavering Primary School.

Chris Corcoran, director of Skipping School Ltd, said: “We continue to be grateful to the primary schools of Hartlepool for taking us on trust each year, to create a positive experience for their children, some of whom are representing their School for the first time in a sporting activity.

“Our ‘all inclusive’ philosophy means in most instances, all of the children in the class come to the event as a total team.

“In those schools which have a two class entry system, there is positive competition for places in the team, which also has merit in stimulating a wish for improvement in skill to be selected.

“The overall skill level this year by all participating teams, is at the highest ever, which is testimony to both the endeavours of the children themselves, and also their teachers for the enthusiastic support and encouragement they have given their pupils over the last five months.

“We will be back in 2018 for the 8th year running, and having trailed our Year 2 version of the project with six of the Hartlepool schools earlier this year we will be presenting both projects for participation next time.”

Anyone wanting to find out more about the Skipping School can do so at www.skippingschool.co.uk.