Pupils complete a million skips

A day dedicated to exercise saw schoolchildren complete a million skips.

The primary schools within BMAT in Harlow and Stansted – Cooks Spinney, Freshwaters, Little Parndon, Roydon and Magna Carta - took part in National Skipping Day.

A group of 15 Skipping Champions from Burnt Mill Academy, in Harlow, visited the primary schools to encourage youngsters to get involved.

With more than 750,000 official skips recorded and a variety of ad hoc events going on throughout the day, the Trust is confident it reached its million skips target.

Phil Dawes, BMAT director of sport, said: “The scores are still being added up, but at the end of the day, the total isn’t the important thing.

“As I watched hundreds of uncounted skips in races and group skips, I started to see the bigger picture. There were loads of active children interacting with different year groups, with staff, with sports leaders and parents and everyone had a smile on their face! Great exercise and great fun - no one looked unhappy while skipping!

“Whether recorded or not, certainly a million skips!”