Congratulations to the PE department, which has been nominated in two categories in the Wirral Sports Development Forum Awards: Sports Department of the Year and Boys’ Team of the Year (for our Year 7 county cup finalists).

The awards ceremony will take place at Holme Hall in October.

Mr Metcalf, head of PE, said: “The whole department is very proud to be nominated for these awards. It shows the hard work that has gone in over the last twelve months – year one of our five-year plan to make the school a sporting powerhouse in the north west.”

These nominations come just days after the school was awarded the School Games Gold Mark for 2017-2018. In June 2018, the PE department also won the Echo Schools Communication Award for its innovative approaches to communicating with students and parents.

In fitting recognition of a remarkable year of sporting participation and achievement, Ridgeway High School has been awarded the School Games Gold Mark award for 2017-2018.

The School Games Mark is a government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust. It aims to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition within their school and the local community. Involving criteria based on participation, entry into competitive events across a range of sports, student leadership opportunities and links with local clubs, the School Games Mark is a challenging quality assurance process.

Mr Metcalf, head of PE, said: “This is the first year that Ridgeway has applied for the award, by-passing bronze and silver to achieve the highest possible standard at this stage. If we maintain gold standard for five years, we will enter an elite group comprising around only 100 schools nationwide who have achieved platinum standard.”

Headteacher Mr Taylor said: “This is absolutely fantastic news. I am delighted for Mr Metcalf and his team, coming just a few months after winning the Echo Schools Communication Award for their efforts in reaching out to students, parents and the local community. To achieve the gold award straight away, by-passing bronze and silver, is a superb achievement and a recognition of their hard work over the last year.”

Here are just a few of the highlights from an extraordinary 2017-2018:

• The relaunch of a jam-packed extra-curricular PE programme saw 62% of students regularly taking part, bucking the national trend.
• The PE department won the Echo Schools Award for its innovative approach to communicating with students and parents.
• Ridgeway’s girls took part in their first national football week and an incredible netball residential trip to Condover Hall in Shropshire.
• The athletics squad achieved their best-ever medal haul in last summer’s Wirral-wide meeting.
• The PE department fully embraced the spirit of National School Sport Week with activities such as rock climbing, giant inflatables, ice skating, boxing, volleyball, ultimate frisbee and high-intensity interval training.
• It was a year packed with amazing trips, ranging from high-quality parkour/freerunning coaching at the state-of-the-art Airborn Academy in Liverpool to a visit to Loughborough University, home of elite UK sport.
• Who could forget the memorable debut appearance by the Year 7 boys’ football team in the final of the Merseyside Cup?