A SCHOOL hopes its bumper crop of talented young athletes will inspire classmates to enjoy and excel in sport.

In the last academic year, Whitworth Park School and Sixth Form in Spennymoor, County Durham, saw 24 of its pupils pick up national or international sports honours.

PE teacher Andy Lowe said: “It isn’t unknown to have one or two a year but to have that many at Whitworth at once is terrific, it is unprecedented.

“They are a real inspiration, not just because of their sporting achievement but they are all nice humble kids, who don’t shout about their successes.

"I hope the other pupils are inspired to try lots of different sports and find ones they enjoy and are good at.”

Of those elite young athletes, 18 represented England or Great Britain or trained with national development squads last year.

There were two world champions, Liam Sneath in acrobatic gymnastics and Charlie Simpson in Thai Boxing, and European title winners, Simone Abley in taekwondo and gymnast Lauryn (CORRECT) Armstrong.

Martial arts proved a successful hunting ground with top contests won by Heather Davies in judo, Joshua Long in taekwondo, Ethan Walton in karate, and brothers Christian and Jevon (CORRECT) Atkinson in Muay Thai.

Other successes included Jack Comby and Luke Bell who won boxing titles and James Pratt, John Pratt, Adam Courtley and Kristopher Egginton who play water polo for Team GB.

On the football pitch Brogan McHugh played for the women’s U17 England team and Ebony Thompson and Emily Scarr were selected for the English Schools' Football Association squads.

Jack Hackett is on the books at Sunderland AFC and part of the junior England set-up.

Durham Wildcats basketball player Liam Armstrong was called up to the national squad and Brooke Burdess won a national street dancing championship.

Mr Lowe said: “The school is so proud of those students, we’re not taking the credit but want to celebrate what good kids we have here and what I believe is a unique situation.

“Those success stories are down to pupils’ talent, hours and hours of training and hard work, and the extracurricular opportunities and access to incredible coaches that are out there.

“It takes commitment and dedication to do well in sport, I truly believe the attributes and skills you get from sport like discipline and team work and the experiences of travel and being part of a team help them in schoolwork and life.”

Last year the school launched its sporting talent identification programme, Team Whitworth, which strengthens links with sports clubs across the region to help pupils make the most of whatever sporting talent they have.