On Tues 24th Jan, GB Pentathlete and London 2012 hopefully Sam Weale came to visit Y9 students. The visit was made possible as part of the work of the Wells Sports Foundation who support up and coming athletes and engage them with young people by getting them into schools. Sam is a British Gold medalist and won a Silver medal at the European Championships. At the Beijing Olympics Sam finished 10th and is looking to qualify and improve this finish position to win a medal in London.

Sam started the afternoon with an insightful and inspiring assembly with the whole of Y9. The requirements of the Pentathlon (running, shooting, swimming, horse riding and fencing) were explained to students with four of them dressing up in Sam's Olympic clothing. Ivanna wore the fencing clothing, Kieran the horse riding attire, Luke the running and shooting clothing and Maya the swimming outfit that has now been banned for competitions due to competitors swimming too quickly!

Following the assembly, 25 students were fortunate enough to spend a session discussing Olympic values and training for London then engaged in a practical session. Students had the opportunity to experience the shooting phase using the laser gun and electronic target. They then went out to the astro where Sam lead some warm up activities, running techniques, before the students competed in teams to simulate the running and shooting phase of competition. They impressed Sam with their work rate and completed the competition twice showing loads of enthusiasm and enjoyment.

Miss Hodge