The school has been awarded School of the Month for February – an accolade handed out by the Sports Council’s 5x60 scheme, which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and run locally by Caerphilly County Borough Council.

5x60 aims to get secondary school children who usually prefer to stay on the sporting sidelines more active, more often and the scheme is scoring high marks. In fact, 98% of mainstream schools in Wales have now signed up.

Almost half of the pupils at Risca Community Comprehensive School have given 5x60 activities a shot since the scheme arrived at the school in September 2008 and with the new activities on the timetable for this year many more are set to sign up.

A whole host of activities are on offer at the school, including cheerleading, badminton, girls basketball, girls football, golf, kickboxing, aerobics, kayaking, dance and table tennis, with badminton and cheerleading proving to be the most popular.

And the pupils are certainly championing the scheme,

"I think it’s good to have the sports clubs as it keeps us fit and entertained," said Lucy Hurrell.