Students at a primary school in Cumbria have cycled the equivalent of Penrith to Barcelona.
Pupils aged three to 11 at Penrith’s Hunter Hall collectively cycled in a wellbeing challenge that took place in the final days of remote learning during the third national lockdown.
The house biking challenge proved to be exceptionally popular with each of the school’s four houses choosing a ‘destination’ to cycle to by collating distances from individual local bike rides from the children’s own front doorsteps.
After just 10 days of biking, the whole school total reached an astonishing 1,217.41 miles – a distance that could take you from Penrith to Barcelona.
House captains Fergal, Annie, Casey and Hugo collated the results for each house, motivating and encouraging their teams remotely.
Each house met its target destination with Hares and Squirrels both out-cycling the teachers.
The overall team champions were Squirrels, who cycled more than 500 miles.
Head of games and sports enthusiast Andrew Hetherington presented certificates to all riders at the first ‘real’ school assembly last week since December 2020.
Certificates were also handed out for individual cycling challenges too – with everything from King or Queen of the Mountains (Tate) to marking first-time ‘all on their own’ riders (Kiearra and Kitty).
“It was inspirational to hear about so many cycling endeavours; an adventure on two wheels proving to be the perfect break from online lessons,” said Andrew.
Year 6 house captain, Casey said: “The house cycling challenge was great fun and it was good to be able to include the whole school, from the very small children right through to year six.”
Fellow House Captain Fergal added: “Gathering in the results remotely as house captain was a challenge, having to read so many messages and collate the results by computer, but it was worth it to come second place with Hares.”
Hunter Hall’s next open day is planned for early summer, however the school is now able to welcome in-person, socially-distanced visits by prior arrangement.
Hunter Hall is Cumbria’s only independent preparatory and pre-school for children aged three to 11 years and is located on the outskirts of Penrith.
To find out more, visit www.hunterhall.co.uk or to book call 01768 891 291.
