CALDEW School in Dalston boasts many aspiring athletes.

Joining only a few weeks ago was Year 7 student and talented gymnast Harry Cross.

He recently won gold in the English Trampoline Championships in Sheffield in the 9-12 years synchronised trampoline category.

Harry trains at Carlisle Trampoline Club, Yewdale Community Centre for at least five hours a week and increases his hours when competitions are approaching.

His older sister Olivia, who is in Year 9, also competes and has won regional medals this year.

Olivia, who turned 13 last April, recently moved up to the 13 years plus age group so is now competing against rivals aged 13-18.

They are not the only students with such talent.

Year 10 student Jack Smith leaves his house near Carlisle most mornings at 5am for his commute to Cockermouth to join swim coach Sean Balmer for training.

Jack is part of the England Swimming talent programme. In August he won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the Swim England National Summer Championships.

Jack has previously been Scottish Open Age Group Champion, North West regional multiple champion, an English Schools medallist and is Cumbria age group county record holder in 38 events over different age groups.

Jack’s inspiration is world record holder Adam Peaty and he hopes to go to Loughborough University after GCSEs and A-levels.

As part of the talent programme Jack makes several trips to Wigan for additional training and support from coaches and nutritionists from British Swimming.

He is currently the fastest 14 year old in the region at both 100m & 200m breaststroke.

Sporting talent runs in the family - Jack’s younger sister Lucy is also a talented gymnast who also trains in the North West.

Read more about the Caldew Way here

Elsewhere, Year 13 student Megan Busby has been enjoying athletics since she was eight years old. Caldew School staff can still remember her competing at its primary schools cross country event, winning by quite a considerable distance on a freezing cold day.

Long jumper Megan is part of the Athlete Academy of Sporting Excellence (AASE) Programme and is currently juggling training, A-levels at Caldew School and a BTEC diploma based at Loughborough and Manchester Universities. Her inspiration is Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill whom she has met on a number of occasions.

Megan trains with her coach John Birkett and for up nine hours a week and has a personal best jump of 5.87 metres. She is currently ranked joint 12th in the UK under 20s women and is currently focussing her attention on the Junior European Championships in Sweden whilst studying for her A-levels in PE, biology and psychology.

She trains at the Sheepmount Stadium in Carlisle and at Caldew School on its new outdoor long jump facility that was installed following the flooding in Carlisle after Storm Desmond.

Following the flooding , young people were left with no place to train and Caldew School received a £25,000 Sport England to install a new long jump, high jump and pole vault facility at the school.

The AASE is a key part of the British Athletics Performance Pathway for young athletes aged between 16 and 18.

The pathway programme gives athletes the opportunity to learn and develop the necessary knowledge and skills to progress on to becoming a senior international athlete whilst gaining further qualifications, and is designed to support and compliment club training.

Athletes attend training camps, workshops covering nutrition and nutrition and performance, sports psychology, lifestyle, communication and media, Clean Athletics education, social media and career planning.

Practical elements will include workshops in strength and conditioning, fitness testing as well as physiotherapy input and support and mentoring.

After A’levels Megan hopes to go to Loughborough University to study a degree in Sports Psychology or Psychology/Criminology whilst continuing her training in the country’s best sporting facilities.