On 31 July 2016, staff and pupils of St Thomas More Catholic School took part in one of Europe’s greatest cycling event, the Prudential RideLondon 2016. Participants represented Teach First, a charity that tackles educational inequality by placing inspiring teachers in challenging classrooms across England and Wales. This year’s event saw the introduction of a 46-mile route created specifically for newer and younger cyclists

St Thomas More’s Acting Head of IT, Mr McStravick, who himself underwent the two-year Teach First Leadership Development Programme, rode the route alongside his students and now hopes that the Prudential RideLondon mentality of challenging oneself can be instilled in his students.

In total, eight students participated in the race from St Thomas More: Daniella Asare, Stephen Teodoro, Jastin Cabus, Carl Bile, Giovanny Teodoro, Tyler Mondesir Aourarh, Aaliyah Smith and Ralph Matira.

Daniella Asare insisted that it was by the will of the crowd that she made the finish line, ‘I felt so good knowing that I completed it, the hills were really tough particularly towards the end where they seemed to get steeper,’ she said. ‘There was so much support, the crowd were really good and shouted how many miles there were to go which really gave me that extra boost I needed. I’m immensely proud of myself, I felt really good but so tired!’