Well done to all those St Joseph’s pupils who competed at the ISA National Championships this weekend – a wonderful example of pupils competing at an extremely high level for their school. Having won through the ISA South West qualifiers, the team took to the road to compete in London – and came home with two gold medals, courtesy of Olivia Shute in Year 7.

Olivia managed to achieve the exceptional double of the Year 7 50 metre Backstroke title, along with the 50 metre Freestyle title. That she was able to achieve so highly was quite remarkable given the level of the competition, and a credit to the time and dedication she puts into her training and swimming out of school. She was not the only Shute to have medal success, however, as her younger sister Hollie was a key member of the squad that won Bronze for the South West in the 4x50m Freestyle category – a wonderful tribute to the sisters’ talent in the swimming pool.

As always, it is never just about those who step onto the podium, but about every member of the team, and qualification for the National Championships is a great achievement in itself, and one we will mark in the summer’s prize giving events. Very well done to Harrison Shaw, Ella Henry-Brock, Thomas Greet, Theo Marshall, Louisa Smith, Sapphire Bhatti, Marlo Downs and Jack Joshua, all of whom represented both St Joseph’s and the South West in the water.

Headteacher Mr Scott said “It is wonderful to see sporting success at such a level. Following our recent national success in the ISA Art Competition, it shows just what a standard the children here can reach. All of our swimmers have all done exceptionally well to qualify, and for Olivia and Hollie to gain the medals they have is just brilliant. Well done – very few children can say they are double ISA National title winners and it is a great achievement for Olivia to join such a select band. Very well done to all – everyone at St Joseph’s is very proud of them.”