We were delighted to be able to take seven ELAN  schools to Sidcot School to take part in our annual swimming gala. This forms part of a series of sporting activities that Sidcot School run with our schools throughout the year, including tennis, cricket, swimming and two gymnastics sessions.

 

The gala includes a range of races from front crawl, back crawl, breast-stroke and relay races and is tailored to support students of all abilities. Sidcot’s ELAN Sport Liaison, Lee Molland, organises and runs the event, accompanied by Director of Sport Matt Lloyd, Sidcot’s Sport Manager Martin Rogers as Lifeguard and Sidcot’s BTEC Sport students providing event and scoring support.

 

Each ELAN school selects eight students to take part and transport to and from the event is arranged by Sidcot.

 

Commenting, Louie, Year 6 at Walliscote Primary said, “It’s really fun for all of us to take part, especially for teamwork with our school friends but also for meeting people and making friends in other schools”.

 

Lee Molland, Junior School PE and Sports Lead at Sidcot added, “Because this is an annual event, we’ve really seen a marked improvement in the swimming ability of all the pupils across the schools. It’s a lively event and all the kids have a good, fun time. We really hope they enjoy themselves and that it encourages them to keep practicing their swimming!”

 

A huge thank you to our friends at Sidcot School for their ongoing partnership and opportunities as well as providing transport that enables these events to take place. Transport costs are a huge barrier to a lot of things and with Sidcot School removing this, it means that more children can have the chance to showcase what they can do. 

 

The ELAN schools that took part in this gala included Banwell Primary, Milton Park, Mendip Green, Walliscote Primary, Mead Vale, Bournville Primary and Locking Primary School.