Aycliffe School

High hopes for trampolining finals

Home |
Aycliffe School |
Latest News |
School has high hopes for trampolining finals

Pupils at a North East specialist school have high hopes for the national finals of a trampolining competition this weekend.

Aycliffe School pupils Kai, Rustam, and Frankie were jumping for joy after they took first place in the Year 1-6 Mixed Cat 1 team category at the British Schools Gymnastics Association (BSGA) 2024-25 Northern Zone Trampoline Championships.

Coached by AAAsports in Sunderland, the team has been trampolining as part of P.E. lessons at the school, run by the North East Autism Society (NEAS), for around a year and a half.

Despite this, they saw off stiff competition to secure victory in their team category, with Kai and Rustam also placing highly in singles competition, while fellow pupil Aiden came 6^th in the Year 7-14 category.

The pupils’ success mean they will advance to the BSGA National Trampolining Championships, held on Saturday 15^th March in Derby.

Kirri Timmiss, P.E. lead at Aycliffe School, said: “We do trampolining as part of our curriculum. The other schools that were there, they came from proper trampoline classes that the school do on an evening.

“It’s something they’ve been doing for ages whereas we’ve been doing it just as parts of lessons, but Kai came second and the team came first, which was just fantastic.”

Contestants are judged on five different jumps; a tuck jump, straddle jump, seated jump, swivel seated jump, and a pike jump.

Anna Wilcock, Teaching Assistant at Aycliffe School, said: “They were all so proud of themselves. They all coped really well with the busy environment, and they absolutely thrived.”

Kirri added:

“I’ve been at the school for six years and we’ve never entered a competition or done anything competitively. It’s the first time we have, and we’ve gotten through to the finals.

“Their parents are obviously very proud and excited for it.”

The school hopes this is just the beginning, and will inspire more students to participate in future competitions.

“Now we’ve been through it, we can tell them exactly what’s going to happen and what to expect at every stage,” Kirri said.

And ahead of the finals, Kirri and Anna feel that the team from Aycliffe School has plenty to be hopeful for.

Kirri added: “We weren’t sure what to expect when we went into the zonal competition, but because Kai and Rustam did so well, it does seem like they’re in for a good chance with the finals.”