First state school skatepark boosts fitness and increases attendance
At Tokyo 2020, the skateboarder Sky Brown became the youngest Briton to win an Olympic medal at just 13 years old, adding another to her collection at the Paris Games last year. Now, the next generation is snapping at her heels at what is thought to be the first state school skatepark, thanks to a charity founded by a millionaire philanthropist.
In a deprived coastal area, Folkestone Academy in Kent had high levels of absence, but attendance has risen steadily since the concrete bowl opened, with dozens of pupils regularly skating, scooting and BMXing.
The unlikely champion of the project is the school's bespectacled 44-year-old head of geography, who never forgot his youthful passion for skateboarding and is now out on the concrete bowl every
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