STUDENTS from years 7, 8 and 9 at Sir James Smith’s School in Camelford were selected to take part in a Sky Sports programme morning with modern pentathlete and Olympian Heather Fell on Wednesday, January 18.

After a fun warm up which released all the nerves, students were able to have a go at two of the events included in the modern pentathlon, fencing and pistol shooting. Students gave their all while practicing the fencing drills by learning how to lunge to beat their opponent.

There was also time at the end for a quick competition to see who had the fastest reactions within each group before learning how to and having a go at shooting a laser pistol.

Year 7 were even lucky enough to see and have photographs taken with Heather’s silver medal, which she won at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

All students who took part really enjoyed the experience, although some said that they wished they could have had longer than an hour.

Heather will return to Sir James Smith’s in May to work with the Sky Sports Club for a day. The club will be run by PE teacher Jodie Hocking for six weeks after the Easter holidays and is aimed at building self-confidence and teamwork skills as well as focusing on the six keys of the Sky Sports initiative.

The Sky Sports initiative is run in conjunction with the Youth Sports Trust, which aims to help increase confidence and build life skills in young people.

Talking about the day, PE teacher at the school, Jodie Hocking, said: “It was brilliant to have Heather in for the morning. Our students really enjoyed working with a professional athlete and having a go at two sports which most had never tried before.”