YATE’S Ridge Junior School are celebrating a remarkable achievement after they multiple national champions successes on Bank Holiday Monday.

The team represented the South West at the schools tournament in Stoke-on-Trent after qualifying from their regional heats in March, but there were also individual gold medals for the squad.

In the team competition, the eight gymnasts, who have put in a lot of dedicated training during their lunch hours, came out tops among twelve other regional teams in the UK.

“It was a brilliant day,” said Jane Mewse, who coaches the team at The Ridge.

“It was great seeing our team on the top of the podium. This was an amazing achievement for these youngsters. They remained calm and composed throughout the day and truly deserved their success.”

The competition began on Saturday for The Ridge gymnasts, with brother and sister duo, James and Bethan Williams competing in the Under 14 Mixed pair category.

James and Bethan, despite being only 10 and eight respectively, performed brilliantly and were rewarded with a gold medal-winning score.

Sunday was a busy day for gymnasts where the team were participating in four more categories.

Henry Skidmore (10) and James Williams started the competition with a great performance in the Under 11 Boys’ pairs.

During their training, Henry and James have been consistently good and they were true to form on Sunday.

The boys received their winner’s trophy and Gold medals in front of the large audience in the Fenton Manor Sports complex in Stoke where this annual competition was held.

With very little time to gather his breath, Henry was required to compete in the Under 11 Mixed pairs with his partner Ellise King (10).

As these two gymnasts performed it was noticeable that the two thousand strong audience fell silent as the pair competed their routine.

It was no surprise when Henry and Ellise were crowned British Schools’ champions 2015 as they took top spot on the podium.

The Under 11 girls’ pairs was the next category, which is always a closely contested competition.

Ellise was joined by her partner, Holly Stone (11).

Their routine was fast and very entertaining and received roaring applause from the audience.

There were a great many fine performances in this category and Ellise and Holly were proud of their silver medals, just 0.05 behind the winners.

Finally, the groups event, where six gymnasts compete together took place.

Ellise and Holly, and team-mates Evie Arpino Norvill (9), Abigail Clothier (11), Lauren Alvis (11) and Bethan Williams (eight) took to the floor and performed a precise and challenging routine.

The competitors’ scores were not displayed during the competition so it was a long and nervous wait for The Ridge team until the medal presentation.

As the bronze and silver medal positions were presented to teams from the South East and North West respectively, there was an anxious moment before The Ridge team were announced as British Schools’ champions 2015.

With four golds and a silver, the South West were also winners of the team trophy.