by Marie Nee

St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School children delighted parents and staff with their win at a recent competition between the six Catholic primary schools of The Painsley Catholic Academy, North Staffordshire.

The competition was held at Painsley Sixth Form College, in Cheadle, where the children, all age seven to 11, competed for the Cross Country trophy.

St Thomas’ won first place, with second place going to St Filumena’s Catholic Primary School (Caverswall) and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School (Uttoxeter) came in third.

Matthew Jones, PE Co-ordinator at St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School, said: “Our school prides itself on encouraging all its children to participate in physical activity during school hours.

"We also encourage all children to participate in competitive sports throughout the year so it was fantastic to see almost half of our children from Year 3 to Year 6 taking part and enjoying themselves.

"Of course, they were extremely happy to bring the trophy back to St Thomas’!”

Zara Shenton (age 10) said: “I really enjoyed taking part. All the parents were cheering and it was a great atmosphere. I was very proud to be the first girl over the line for St Thomas’.”

Ethan Walker (age 10) won his age group event and said: “I enjoyed taking part in the cross country, and after this I went straight to the swimming baths and had to swim one mile!”

Both Zara and Ethan swim for clubs in the local area.