Watch: All aboard as Telford pupils enjoy lesson with a difference

Pupils padded up for the special skateboarding workshops, which saw them learn how to ride in style, at Lightmoor Village Primary School, yesterday.

The special session saw boys and girls learn how to ride and try flips and tricks on their boards.

Geoff Else, the instructor from organisers Team Rubicon, said: "It was a great day. We provided a fun and safe skateboard lesson which got the children excited about healthy active lifestyles and rather than learning the traditional sports like football and cricket we got them to do skateboarding, an alternative sport and it went down an absolute storm.

"Those who had not done it before were so excited about learning something new and if they had done it before they were very excited about improving their skills. As the instructors we act as a role model for them, we play the cool teachers as well as teaching them new skills."

Equipment including skateboards, helmets and pads were provided for the hour-long session.

Geoff added: "We started from the very beginning. We started with things like balancing, turning and pushing which the kids picked up pretty quickly and then we moved on to more exciting things like using the skateboards to pivot and jump and turn and we did races and competitions which the kids really enjoyed.

"A lot of these action sports are quite challenging and require a lot of skills. Every time we go to schools we are amazed at how quickly they pick up the skills. There are always one or two boys or girls who have a lot of natural talent and we hope they stick with it. A lot of those kids will be going on to buy a skateboard at the weekend, or at least ask their parents too.

"In the past there was a bit of a negative reputation with these action sports but these days they are so mainstream it is such a great thing to do you can go down to a local skate park and you can see up to 100 people down there. It is such a positive sport we are very, very happy that so many schools including Lightmoor are embracing it.

"The workshop was a lot of fun."