Huckerby helps Methwold celebrate

Methwold High School celebrated its acquisition of Sports College Status on Monday with an elaborate event which saw Norwich City legend Darren Huckerby make an appearance.

The school has only recently gained this status and the appearance by one of the most prestigious players to wear yellow and green was the perfect way to mark the school's achievement, writes David Hannant.

Prior to the event Director of Specialism, John Winn, spoke about how delighted he was with the school's achievement, emphasising the importance it will have.

He said that the status was “a tremendous boost, not only for the school but for the community as a whole.

“Sport has a wider remit than other subjects and allows us to use the power and passion of the sport to increase physical activity in the community.”

The new-found status will see Physical Education and Business and Enterprise becoming lead curriculum areas, which is expected to raise school standards as a whole.

This year saw the school's best-ever performance in GCSE, with the percentage of students gaining A*-C grades rising to 67 per cent.

The celebration on Monday included the final of an inter-community seven-a-side tournament, which Huckerby refereed.

The afternoon also saw a Q&A session with Huckerby and speeches from both Winn and headteacher Denise Walker.

Once proceedings concluded a delighted Winn hailed the event a resounding success.

“It went really well, I'm so pleased as a lot of planning went into it. Huckerby said all the right things, everyone who participated in the football received certificates and we really showed how sport influences schools and engages the community,” he stated.

“It really was excellent. Even the weather was kind it us, it stayed nice and dry right up until the final whistle of the tournament. Then it bucketed it down, but everyone was inside by then!”

Overall, the event was the perfect way for the school to celebrate its newly-acquired status.