St John’s Primary School, Basingstoke wins Pride of Table Tennis award

St Johns Church of England Primary School was announced as School of the Year at the Pride of Table Tennis Awards on 26 March, organized by Table Tennis England.

The awards celebrate and honor the work of volunteers, coaches, officials and organizations for their outstanding contribution to table tennis over the past year.

READ MORE: Basingstoke school is a finalist in the Pride of Table Tennis Awards

Representatives from St Johns, Kingsmill Road, attended an awards ceremony in Nottingham where they were announced as category winners.

Neil Tunnicliffe, assistant headteacher at St Johns, said he was delighted with the school’s win, adding: I feel very honored that our efforts have been recognized at a national level.

Table tennis has made such an impact on children in St Johns and also in Hampshire as our pupils continue to play after they leave.

Jonathon Driscoll, England Table Tennis Manager, congratulated St Johns for being Pride of Table Tennis School of the Year in a very strong category.

He added: Its distinct table tennis is ingrained in the culture of St Johns to provide excellent opportunities for pupils not only to develop their key skills but also to improve their health and wellbeing. Congratulations once again to everyone involved and keep up the good work.

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The school was nominated by parent Alastair Williams, who explained that the schools passion for table tennis began in 2016 when it purchased two outdoor table tennis tables for the children to use.

He said that as a school with only 45 pupils a year and a total of 315 children from Year R to Year 6, it is amazing to have around 30 children playing every day.

He said playing table tennis boosts children’s self-confidence, develops social skills and improves health and well-being.

St Johns incorporates table tennis into its curriculum in PE lessons, where students are also given the opportunity to score and referee.

Since purchasing the table tennis tables, St Johns students have competed in competitions each year, resulting in individual and team success.

St Johns pupil Grace Pywell was announced as the winner of the Hampshire Individual Table Tennis competition in February in the girls category and will compete in Wolverhampton on April 22 in the national final.

A 10-year-old said: I started playing at lunchtime and I really liked it. The teachers update our rackets and let us play at lunch time and we can also play before school in the morning. I just love to play.

I was really proud and happy about my victory.

Coral Parry, a 10-year-old pupil at St Johns, said: They played table tennis at lunchtime and it looked really fun so I joined and then started going every day. I enjoy it because it’s fun to play and it’s fun to watch others play and gain skills.

I am really proud of the school for winning the award.