THREE athletic youngsters from a village primary school are tumbling to the top in their chosen sport.

Simon Peart, Robert Agar and Sophie Chambers have put Esh Winning Primary School on the acro-gymnastics map.

The trio have won through to the British Schools' Championships, backed by the expertise of coaches at the centre of excellence in the sport, at Deerness Valley Comprehensive School in nearby Ushaw Moor.

They are now busy preparing for the national championship, held in Stoke in the Potteries in April.

Simon and Robert, both aged ten, earned their ticket to the national finals by winning the under 11 boys' pairs category in the recent qualifying competition, the North of England Schools' Acro-Gymnastics Championships.

It proved a busy day for Simon, who was also partnering nine-year-old Sophie in the under-11 mixed pairs event.

Following a close competition they just edged ahead of their closest rivals, a duo from Middlesbrough's Pallister Park School, to hang on to first place.

It means that Simon will compete in both boys' and mixed categories at the national event.

The success compliments the links the primary school has fostered with the Deerness Valley Comprehensive, a recognised UK Sports Institute Gymnastics High Performance Centre and part of the World Class Start programme.

Led by coach Karl Wharton, a national coach and mainstay of the Deerness Valley centre, a talent identification programme was carried out at the school to pinpoint youngsters with the most potential.

The top ten per cent were invited to the gymnastic centre at Deerness Valley for a three-day intensive course. It has led to 15 Esh Winning youngsters joining the Start development scheme with speedy results for Simon, Robert and Sophie.