ON January 15 and 16, pupils at Ingleby Arncliffe Primary CE School took part in an educational visit to Middlesbrough Football Community Centre, at Eston.

After warm-up exercises, we tackled obstacle courses and practised shooting at goal, among a range of activities.

We then transferred to Middlebrough Football Club's BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium for an excellent lunch, which emphasised healthy eating principles to us.

Afternoon activities included classroom work covering art and design, literacy and mathematics topics.

Pupils were involved with code-breaking tasks, designing football and other sports strips, and word searches.

They also enjoyed a game called Fantasy Football, which taught them the main food groups which contribute to a balanced diet. They were encouraged to think about foods they would typically eat in a day, and to which food group these foods belong.

Some of our children helped to make shortbread, while others were involved with mathematics and literacy work using computers.

At the end of day one, the children were given homework to design a badge either for football or another sport or club in which they were interested.

During day two, we had a very well-presented and hard-hitting smoking presentation, giving children many good reasons not to choose to smoke. It highlighted the monetary and health costs involved.

Afterwards, we went on a tour of the BT Cellnet Stadium, including visiting the players' dressing rooms and the hospitality boxes. We sat in the stands and the seats where the manager and coach sit during matches.

Children could run through the tunnel as if going to play a match themselves. At the end of the tour we had a question- and-answer session with Alistair Brownlee, from Century Radio, who amused us with some of his experiences as a correspondent.

To end the day, a group photograph was taken, and this will appear shortly on the Middlesbrough Football Club website. Two of our children, Sophie Lipthorpe and Richard Miles, were judged winners in the design-a-badge homework, and their designs were turned into badges for them to take home.

It was a most enjoyable visit with much emphasis on the importance of doing well at school. The staff related very well to the children and made the activities fun.