Get stuck in!

UP to the eyeballs.. Joseph Minopoli dives head first into muddy fun

OLDHAM Youth Council got the chance to take the reins here at the Oldham Evening Chronicle recently as part of their 11 Million Take-over Day experience.

Sitting in the editor’s chair and picking up their notepad and pens, teens got a chance to witness for themselves the daily pressures of putting a newspaper together. Here, young reporter Jess Mallard visits St Joseph’s Primary School, Shaw, to see youngsters being put through their paces by a team of expert trainers.

MOST people would complain about doing outdoor activities in the grim Oldham weather we are often faced with, but not the pupils of St Joseph’s primary school in Shaw.

Taking leave from the classroom, youngsters were enlisted in a fun and alternative assault course to show them the gruelling challenges army recruits face.

The previous night’s storm had turned the school field into a mudbath, but the kids were more than ready to dive right in.

Slipping and sliding through glorious mud the youngsters channelled their energy and enthusiasm into the military activities.

They helped each other through difficult areas of the course and learnt the importance of team building, instructed by firm yet friendly Alan Lewis who shouted commands with all the animation of a true sergeant major.

The course, run by company Commando Joes’, aims to be fun and engaging and, as it’s based around teamwork and exercise. Head teacher Steve Hill couldn’t praise the project enough. Knee-deep in mud from doing the course himself, he said: “When we heard of Commando Joes’ we jumped at the chance to get involved and the children all loved it, as did the staff!

“Everyone really got stuck in, literally in one case when a pupil lost his shoe in a pool of mud!”

Another pupil got stuck crawling through a tunnel but the rest of her team rallied round to free her from her sticky situation.

As pupil Adam Holden said: “It is really fun and a great idea, everyone should get the chance to do it.”

Team mate Joe Minopoli, asked to mark the experience out of 10, enthused: “I’d give it a thousand!”

Does Commando Joes’ get children fit through fun? Yes Sir!