A SCHOOL from Whitefield has won a national trampolining event in Birmingham.

St Bernadette’s RC Primary School came out on top in the BSGA National Trampoline Finals, beating schools from all over the country, with the win recognising them as one of the best group of Under-11s in the UK.

Rachel Alcock, Grace Bagguley, Beth Maffia and Mia Linakar-Walsh, who all train once a week at Bury Castle Leisure Centre with coach June Short, were the girls who represented the school.

The team qualified for the finals in March, after competing in the zonal round of competitions held in Belfast, with the win seeing them into the finals in Birmingham.

The girls competed in the Elite class of the national event, which is the highest level for competitions amongst schools.

Each of them performed superbly throughout the competition, showing their abilities from the outset in a number of rounds.

Participants performed one compulsory routine and one voluntary, with a maximum mark of eight being awarded in the voluntary round.

Unlike the voluntary round, competitors in the compulsory round had to follow a set routine, with Elite level trampolinists incorporating jumps such as ‘1/2 twist jump’ and ‘jump to pike’ into their routine.

The event was attended by Kat Driscoll, Great Britain’s number one trampolinist and former world number one, with the girls getting the chance to meet her during the presentation ceremony.

The girls were awarded their own trophy as well as one for their school which they can take back to St Bernadette’s to show their peers.

Headteacher of St Bernadette’s Simon Tonge said he was “delighted” with the victory and “appreciates all the effort the girls put in”.