Over 110 students from 10 schools and further education colleges took part in the annual event. The college put forward two teams for the day-long event; one comprised of level 3 Uniformed Services students, and the other, comprised of students from the Air and Defence Career College (A&DCC).   After a warm-up with Wittering’s Physical Education Instructors, the students took part in a 1.5-mile run. The teams also performed a static fitness test, in which half of the team had to perform the maximum number of sit ups, and the other half, the maximum number of press-ups, in just one minute.  

Diana Gonclaves, a student from the A&DCC team, who was the highest performer in the static fitness test, went on to take home the best female athlete award.

The college's Uniformed Services team also took home the trophy for multi-stage fitness test part of the Recruitment Challenge Cup. Students were asked to create and deliver a five-minute presentation on a given RAF trade. Both teams performed exceptionally well during the presentations. Uniformed Services programme manager, Lee Mallott, said “The presentation aspect of the competition particularly challenged our learners, but they performed unbelievably well considering they had to deliver their presentations to a large audience, including RAF officers and the other teams. This not only proved their capability, but developed their self-confidence, too.” [caption id="attachment_25850" align="aligncenter" width="423"] The college's Uniformed Services team, winners of the multi-stage fitness test part of the Recruitment Challenge Cup.

[/caption] Students were invited to learn about the various trades and professions in the Royal Air Force. Students also had the opportunity to look at aircraft old and new; visiting the Harriers in the Heritage Centre and Tutor aircraft with student pilots talking to them about a career in the RAF. RAF Police dogs, drill training, a turn on the digital shooting range and an RAF knowledge test made up the rest of the busy day. Royal Air Force Wittering is home to the RAF A4 Force, the deployable engineering and logistics squadrons which support UK air operations across the world. The students met trainee pilots from 16 Squadron, drivers from 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron and technicians from 5131 Bomb Disposal Squadron. Jo Evans said: “It was a really valuable experience, giving the students a chance to touch the skills they’ll need in their careers.”