CLACTON Coastal Academy students were invited to a special awards ceremony to celebrate their sporting success over the last year.

Over 250 students and parents attended the event to mark their achievements.

This year they were joined by special guest Jamie McDonald – a world record-breaking adventurer who was named runner-of-the-year in Canada.

He was also shortlisted as the Pride of Britain’s Fundraiser of the Year, as well as being a National Adventure Award winner.

McDonald talked about the importance of finding strength within to achieve your goals and certainly seemed to impress students, parents and staff alike.

Every student who has played in a team over the last year was awarded a medal.

Students voted for their player-of-the-year and the PE department also awarded their player-of-the-year for each team.

Special awards were given for outstanding contribution, sports leader of the year and team of the year.

Principal Tracey Hemming said: “It was a truly successful evening and fantastic to see so many of our young people rewarded for their hard work and perseverance.

“They were on the edge of their seats when Jamie was speaking and I believe they went away feeling utterly inspired to overcome their fears.”

Students have celebrated a number of sporting successes this year, including the under-16s girls’ football team getting to the North-East Essex School Sport Association final, the year eight netball team winning the Academies Enterprise Trust tournament, the launch of the Clacton Coastal Football Academy, in association with Chelsea Football Club, and the academy being awarded the Physical Activity Project Award at the Tendring Sports Awards.