Sporting success for high school

Teachers and pupils are celebrating after being awarded with the prestigious title of Lancashire Secondary Sports School of the Year.

Longridge High School’s PE department was honoured with the outstanding achievement at the Lancashire Sports Awards, which was hosted by Lancashire Sport Partnership (LSP), which works to improve health and wellbeing across the county by encouraging active lifestyles.

The awards celebrate sporting achievement and recognise individuals’ dedication and contribution to sport and community activity.

This is the first time in the school’s history it has been officially hailed as the best sports school in the county. It gained the award for winning various fixtures in basketball, football, netball, rugby and dance following winning the Preston Sports School of the Year in summer.

Phil Baines, head of Physical Education at Longridge High School, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the school. I am in a very lucky position to have such highly motivated and talented group of staff at the school.

“The number of unpaid hours of commitment that they put into our pupils is commendable. The pupils too deserve a huge amount of credit as they are the main catalyst. They show a real drive and desire to win and succeed which is a pleasing attribute to see among young people these days.

“Last year the school won numerous trophies, games and competitions. The most noticeable achievements were winning four county championships across three different sports.

“Couple this with the schools dance team finishing third in a national competition, really shows a real diversity in sporting activities that the school provides and succeeds at.”

Adrian Leather, chief executive of LSP, said: “We’re delighted to have crowned this year’s winners, without whom we wouldn’t have the infrastructure to support and help people get involved in something which is great for the mind and body.”