THE pupils from St Petroc’s School in Bude are in a rich vein of form on the sporting front at the moment.

Hot on the heels of their U11 girls becoming the ISA South West netball champions for the fourth year in a row, three pupils made it to the national swimming finals at the Olympic pool in London last weekend. As if this wasn’t a big enough achievement in itself, all three acquitted themselves brilliantly and even returned with some silverware! Seren Chespy was part of the South West freestyle relay team who picked up fourth place, Lily Johns finished fifth in the backstroke, fourth in the relay and a bronze medal for third place in the freestyle, while Alfie Johns swam a storming leg in his freestyle relay to earn a silver medal.

Swimming is an important part of the curriculum at St Petroc’s with all pupils from Reception upwards receiving a swimming lesson from the expert coaches at Splash each week.

Headmaster, Dan Thornburn, said: “I am constantly staggered by the success that our school seems to generate on the national sporting front — we acknowledge that we are only a small school yet we value sport very highly and challenge all of our pupils to be the best that they can be. These three superstars have once again showed just what can be achieved if you really give something your best shot. I am so pleased, especially considering the two girls were very young and will have a chance to compete at this level for the next two years!”

In addition to the success in the pool, 18 children took part in the ISA South West Cross Country Championships at Haldon Forest Park recently. All four teams competed really well with the U10 girls finishing third overall and the U10 boys coming fourth.

The school was delighted to hear that Piran Friend and Seren Chespy have both qualified for the National Championships in March coming sixth and eighth respectively in their races.