Sports College of the year - News - Dover School Sport Partnership

Sports College of the year

A host of Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists - including Christine Ohuruogu, Dame Kelly Holmes, Tim Brabants, David Weir and Eleanor Simmonds - joined teachers and pupils at Twickenham to celebrate inspirational tales of success, sacrifice and heroism at the fourth annual Daily Telegraph-Norwich Union School Sport Matters Awards. School Sport Matters was conceived in 2005 as a pioneering campaign to highlight exemplary practice in physical education and sport in schools, and to generate debate on the delivery of sport in schools, with Norwich Union as commercial partner. The ceremony celebrated the achievements of pupils, teachers and schools from the entire school-sport spectrum.

The award presenters in 10 categories - including Olympic 400m gold medallist Ohuruogu, men's rowing eight Olympic silver medallist Alex Partridge, Holmes, Brabants, Paralympic gold medallists Weir and Simmonds and former Great Britain and Irish Lions rugby players Brian Moore and Robert Jones, all related their school-sports stories to host Sally Gunnell. They all revealed they were linked by a common thread: it was a teacher, coach or parent who, at a young age, had influenced and guided them towards a life in sport. The hundreds of stories and entries received from schools were once again of an exceptionally high level and had required hours of debate from our judging panel. Among those making the tough decisions were Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Olympic gold medallists Holmes, James Cracknell and Brabants, British women's javelin record holder Goldie Sayers, TalkSport presenters Paul Hawksbee and Andy Jacobs, and Moore, who is now a Daily Telegraph columnist.

David Bond, sports editor of The Daily Telegraph, and Tanya Veingard, head of sponsorship at Norwich Union, said that the entries were "of an exceptional standard in both depth and breadth". But our awards are as much about the tales of sacrifice and commitment to using sport as a vehicle for social change which exists in school sport, as the out-and-out winners who may take sport on to an elite level. For instance, there was acclaim for Specialist Sports Colleges. Castle Community College in Dover was under 'special measures' and threatened with closure seven years ago, yet since becoming a sports college three years ago, now boasts more than 60 clubs and sports fixtures a week, its GCSE physical education pass-rates are 100 per cent and it has become a beacon in the community.

Specialist Sports College of the Year

Winner: Castle Community CollegeSeven years ago the college was in special measures and threatened with closure. Now, in a complete turnaround, the College is ranked seventh in the country. Students achieved 100 per cent A*-C grades at GCSE last year. There is a large extra-curricular programme of more than 60 clubs and fixtures per week.

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