Village primary school becomes the first in Bucks to achieve School Games platinum award

The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012 which rewards schools for developing sporting competition across their school and within the wider community.

To win a platinum award, a school has to win a gold award on multiple occasions.

St Michael's is the first school in the county to reach the platinum mark and was recognised for many sporting successes including the participation of its teams in the county finals for girls cricket, boys and girls futsal and hockey.

Sixty pupils have competed in qualifying teams at the Buckingham Sports Partnership's district finals for basketball, hockey, badminton and tennis while teams from St Michael's have taken part in more than 60 competitions, festivals, fixtures and events, many of which have involved multiple teams.

Other developments that have helped St Michael's reach the mark have included:

> The introduction of more extra-curricular clubs such as yoga, fitness, girls football and parkour which has led to increased participation

> An increase in sporting activities at lunchtimes and pupil led PE lessons

> The introduction of initiatives such as Mile a Day which has increased daily activity levels across the school

> More girls teams sport across the school which has lead to an increase in girls playing hockey, netball and football inside and outside school

A spokesman for St Michael's said: "With a total of 198 young people (89% of Key Stage Two and 71% of Key Stage One) participating in local inter-school competitions and festivals this year, we are extremely proud of our pupils for their dedication to all aspects of school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our competitions possible.

"As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas of participation, competition, workforce and clubs, and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.

"A special thanks to all of the staff at St Michael's including Claire Munday, PE & school sport co-ordinator, Marie Grant & Kate Lai-Kit for their dedication to running sports clubs over the past few years and Alison Cooper, the school secretary who does all sport-related admin."