PAUL Truswell MP presented St Mary's RC School, Menston, with the Sports Mark Gold Award, the country's highest recognition of a school's commitment to physical education and sport.

The presentation was made to Head Teacher Mike Pyle at the school assembly on Monday.

St Mary's which was designated as a Sports College in 2000 has an outstanding reputation for its work in physical education and sport.

The school has developed excellent extra curricular programmes for pupils of all abilities. The school also works closely with a partnership of 29 other schools in the area as part of the School Sport Co-Ordinator Initiative.

The school also provides free adult coaching education classes for adults and its facilities are used by the local community for over 65 hours a week throughout the year.

St Mary's is the first Leeds school to gain the prestigious Sports Mark Gold Award and is one of only 50 schools in the whole country to achieve it.

David Geldart, Director of PE and Sport at the school, said: "I am delighted that others know what we do at St Mary's and understand the wider value of PE and sport."