SOUTHEND High School for Girls’ team had a week they will never forget in the Czech Republic as they did battle with the best schools on the globe at the World Schools Athletics Championships.

The team of Poppy Lake, Georgina Duke, Jade Packer, Victoria Hiscock, Olivia Sofroniou and Michelle Hughes finished in fifth place just 12 points behind the third-placed team from Brazil.

“It was the most amazing experience,” said the school’s head of PE Sue Simpson. “All the girls were an absolute credit to the school and acted like professional athletes for the whole time we were out there.

“It will be a week they will never forget and whatever they go on to do, they will remember it for the rest of their lives.

“We were up against some really strong, sport-specific schools. The Saudi Arabia team, for example, had been based in Germany for three months prior to the competition to prepare. Our girls turned up after just finishing their exams and look what they achieved!”

As Southend High’s most senior athlete, high-jumper Lake was given the honour of carrying the English flag at the opening ceremony.

While during the two days of competition, it was a personal best javelin throw from Olivia Sofroniou that stood out.

“All the girls matched our expectations,” said Simpson. “We found the track to be a bit slow though that might have been because it was electronic timing and we are probably more generous with our hand timing!

“But the performance of the competition was from Olivia with her PB of 33.11m in the javelin, while Victoria Hiscock ran a very strong 1,500m in 4m 45s.”

It wasn’t just about competing for the team as they got to mix with other athletes from around the world – and give them a taste of British culture!

“The whole place was buzzing,” said Simpson. “There was a lot of kit swaps going on with other teams and we also had to do a cultural event where each team had to do something that represented their country.

“The girls did a dance to Flying the Flag – the former British Eurovision entry – while wearing Union Jack skirts and bow-ties which went down well!”