LAST SUNDAY, 9th March, the Wilson’s School CCF Royal Air Squadron Trophy team travelled to RAF Halton to compete in the National RASTC Competition. The team was made up of 13 cadets and one reserve and was co-captained by FS Bahra (Wilson’s) and FS Lewis (Wallington High School for Girls).

In February we competed in the regional round of the RASTC, which we have consistently won over the last few years. However, this year we placed in a comfortable second place, still qualifying for the national competition. Although second place was a satisfying placement, it motivated the whole team in our training leading up to the Nationals. RASTC training has consisted of training on a Thursday after school and also during the weekends leading up to the competition and the whole team has shown the strength of their diligence, integrity and hard work in preparation for the competition.

The competition was spread across the testing of 6 disciplines, all led by one of the members of our SNCOs: Drill (FS Bahra), Command Task (CWO Ko), Shooting (FS Lewis), First Aid (FS Lewis), Aircraft Recognition (Sgt Wales) and Military Knowledge (FS Wong and Sgt Bouchon). We travelled to RAF Halton for the competition. Fifteen teams were involved in the national level of the RASTC, some travelling from Scotland and Northern Ireland; thankfully we had a much easier journey. We then competed throughout the day in the six disciplines which led to the final parade in the late afternoon. This year we had the honour of having the final parade hosted by Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty CBE, who holds the position of Commandant of Air Cadets and is in charge of all RAF and ATC cadets across the country.

Overall, we placed: first in Military Knowledge and Aircraft Recognition; runners up in Drill and third in Shooting and First Aid. This led to us becoming the National Champions of the Royal Air Squadron Competition for the second time in Wilson’s School CCF history, a feat rarely accomplished by a state school.