SCHOOLCHILDREN in Weymouth are certainly heading in the right direction after taking part in an orienteering festival.

More than 200 year five pupils from six primary schools in the area took part in The Big O Festival on Wey Valley campus.

The festival, which teaches the children with interactive activities how to orienteer, is organised by the PE department at Wey Valley School.

Over 200 Year 5 pupils have just spent an exciting day on the Wey Valley campus, taking part in the annual orienteering festival arranged by the PE department at Wey Valley School.

Pupils from St Nicholas & St Laurence, Radipole, Bincombe, St Andrews, St John’s Primary School and Wyvern Academy all spent the day developing a host of new skills, guided by PE teachers and student sport leaders.

Mark Salmon, outdoor education teacher, said: “Orienteering is an exciting outdoor adventure sport which involves walking or running whilst navigating around a course using a detailed map and sometimes a compass.

“The aim is to navigate in sequence between a set of control points and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time.”

The festival also served as the exam for the Sports Leader Award Level 1 and The British Orienteering Award Leaders Level 1 Award for Year 10 students and Mr Salmon was delighted to confirm that all the students passed.

The festival was also well received by teachers from the respective schools/

Marie Claridge, head of PE at Wey Valley, said: “The Year five pupils were fantastic throughout the day showing great team work and initiative to complete the course.”

Anneka Smith, from Wyvern Academy, added: “It has been a fantastic, amazing day all the children really enjoyed it and it was great to be included with all the other mainstream schools’.

Dan Cain, from St Andrew’s Primary School said: “The festival has been really well organised and all the children have learnt about the skills required for Orienteering and they have all had a lot of fun.”

Fiona Probert, from Radipole Primary School, added: “Thank you to Wey Valley for organising the festival, the children had a super time and we are very proud of their achievements’.

Sara Adams, acting principal at Wey Valley said: “It is always a pleasure seeing so many pupils visiting the Wey Valley Campus again for another great festival.

“The teams demonstrated great co-operative values and qualities to work together on such a large campus.”

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