On Wednesday 30th June we hosted an Athletics Sports Day for our 8 Partner Primary Schools. Not only was the weather on our side, but we had a little support from a very special guest, as well. Wenlock, the Olympic Mascot named after Much Wenlock, met students from William Brookes and the primary schools before cheering on the young athletes in their bid to reach the podium.

Over 350 children took part in the event, organised by our Year 10 Sports Leaders. Two of our finest athletes, Oliver and Josh, led all 8 schools around the track to mark the beginning of the competition. As well as the usual track events, we enjoyed long jump, discus, shot put, high jump, and javelin.

 Jane Rendell of Lloyds TSB was on hand to present certificates to the winners and trophies to the overall winning large school and overall winning small school. We would like to thank her for her participation; Ann Smith and Mrs Jardine for their hard work; the staff and pupils of all the primary schools; the Year 10 Sports Leaders and Sixth Form Team. And, last, but not least, Wenlock, for being here when we first use our impressive new track and field facility.

Student, Saffron, is a bit of a star on the ice. The 14 year old has already represented her country in Italy and Switzerland at the Chiasso Tournament, and this year will travel to the Czech Republic and Latvia with the England Under 15s Ice Hockey Team.

Team England won the Chiasso tournament and secured the first gold for England for 5 years. This was a particularly memorable occasion for Saffron, who was presented with a special shirt as ‘English Player of the Tournament’ by the English League Officals, who accompanied the team.

Saffron is the only girl ever to play in the team and she told us a bit about how she reached this standard of excellence.

“When I was seven years old, I started skating at the Telford Ice Rink, and after two weeks, joined ‘Telford Venom’ - the Under 10s Ice Hockey Team. Then I joined the Nottingham Under 16s Girls Team (this is the nearest girls team to where I live) and continue to play for them, as well as the national team.”

We asked Saffron if it was different playing on the girls’ team: “It’s a different style of play - it’s slower and not nearly as forceful as the boy’s matches.”

And the future ? “I’ve been offered a scholarship in Canada, but have decided to stay at William Brookes, then, hopefully, go to University in Canada. It’s a great opportunity - the sport is really big over there and they’re very enthusiastic about it. I’d have the chance to play alongside some superb skaters.”

So, you’d play for a Canadian team, but you’d still be willing to play for England at international level, if you could ? “Well, I’ve been pencilled in for the 2014 Winter Olympics, in Russia, and will do my very best to be representing England there.”

Saffron was presented with a repeat award on Tuesday 23rd January at the John Beswick International Awards. She received her award from Liz Nicholson, Shropshire’s Director of Young People & Childrens Services.

We are very proud of Saffron’s achievement and look forward to following her progress into and beyond the olympics.

Congratulations to Matthew, a Year 10 William Brookes student who completed a 60 mile sponsored bike ride on Sunday 17^th May.

The ride began at New Street, Birmingham, 10.00 a.m. and finished a gruelling six hours later in Cheltenham.

Raising more than £300 for the following charities:- Autism West Midlands, Autonomy and Conductive Education.

The day was wet and windy and Matthew commented: “It was very hard at times with quite a few hills: some of them were long climbs, like the one at Broadway, but we all encouraged each other to get up them. There were about 300 of us taking part”.

A number of current Year 9 students will be embarking on a new project in September, as part of their Citizenship studies. They will be aiming to qualify for a Safe Road User Award by understanding how to use the roads and developing positive road user attitude.

William Brookes has qualified as one of just three practitioners in England for the new award, teaching the importance of road safety to students aged 14 to 17.

Malcolm Farrar, Shropshire Council’s road safety officer, said: “A great deal of hard work and commitment has gone into qualifying as one of the first practitioners in the country to deliver this award. Credit must go to William Brookes School for taking the challenge of introducing and developing a new course into their school timetable.”

Mrs Turner commented: “At William Brookes School we believe this is a valuable and important skill to develop in tandem with academic qualifications. Our students are very keen to start this course and we are looking forward to working in partnership with others to implement a Pre-Driver Qualification which will harness young people’s enthusiasm and, at the same time, give them a qualification.”

Students successfully completing the award will gain a partial credit for the theory test, allowing learner car drivers to take an abridged test.