Gold Success at Tap World Championships

“My time at the Tap World Championships in Germany was incredible. To be chosen for Team GB was an amazing honour but to be in Germany with them was immense! It was such a great experience living as a team, staying in our own hotel and making loads of new friends within the squad.  The atmosphere in the arena was electric, meeting lots of people from different countries as far afield as Australia & Japan and making international friends! The quarterfinal was the best we’d ever danced, when we got through to the semi-finals we managed to find something extra & topped our performance. To get a place in the final at the world championships was phenomenal; we were one of the top six formations in the world! The amount of support from parents in the arena and fellow adult team mates in the audience really boosted our energy and we gave the performance of our lives!  To be crowned the world champions, the best in the world, was the most insane, surreal feeling I have ever experienced! It was an amazing experience, an opportunity I feel privileged to have been given, and one I will remember for the rest of my life”!

Jessica Hirst (9NAS)

We were privileged to have Mr and Mrs Leadbeater and Kim  Leadbeater, Jo’s Mum, Dad and Sister, all of whom, like Jo, have a close connection with our school.

The winner of this award this year is Aaisha Kara of 10SKE. Aaisha works tirelessly in the local community for the benefit of others. She works with a local youth group where she has organised and volunteered for a range of different projects. These projects have included feeding the homeless in Leeds city centre and fundraising in aid of a centre in Dewsbury where people with disabilities can meet and socialise. Aaisha has been seen packing bags at ASDA to raise money for victims of flooding in Mirfield, packing gifts for children  unfortunate enough to be in hospital over Eid, helping organise a group of girls to get first aid certificates and leading another group of girls throughout this year to organise inspirational activities to celebrate  International Women’s Day.

Her work doesn’t stop there either! She is also a Young Leader at Batley Brownies on Sundays. In addition, earlier this year she completed a sponsored bike trek and hike and raised £120 for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Foundation with help from other students in her form. Most recently she’s taken up a new role as an Equality and Diversity activist for Locala. She has worked with her team on designing and sharing a questionnaire to people of all ages in the community in order to ask them what they think needs changing in the community and she is now working on making them a reality through different workshops and visits. Aaisha also volunteers in a charity shop every weekend where she is a firm favourite with staff and customers.

All this as well as excelling at school! Aaisha received numerous nominations for this award from a wide range of staff and students and she clearly understands that the contribution of one person can make a world of difference to those in need.