Sussex schools are celebrating after scooping a prestigious national award, recognising their commitment to keeping pupils fit and active.

Sport England has awarded three of them the Activemark Gold Award - Hoddern Junior, Peacehaven; Willingdon Primary, Polegate; and Thomas A Becket Middle, Worthing.

Four others have earned an Activemark - Roselands Infants, Eastbourne; Sir Henry Fermor Primary, Crowborough; Telscombe Cliffs Primary; and Downsbrook Middle, Worthing.

The quality of curriculum PE and extra-curricular activities, from traditional dance to tag rugby, has encouraged many Downsbrook pupils to join local clubs and pursue their interests further.

Loraine Watson, head of PE, said: "Through strong links with the Worthing Sports Development team and local secondary schools, along with the expertise within the school, Downsbrook offers out-of-hours clubs or taster opportunities in no less than 14 different sports.

"The school regularly competes in matches and tournaments and has always been recognised for the high standard of sportsmanship displayed by its pupils, last year winning a trophy for this, as well as the whole Year Six event, in a multi-sport competition.

"Downsbrook very rarely finishes outside the top three in any competition and the most successful team so far this year is the Year Six netball team, which remains unbeaten."

Head teacher Stuart Lee said: "There was quite a lot of paperwork and an outside scrutineer from Sport England came in to check out what we'd been saying.

"We are very proud to have achieved this. It's a reflection of all the good work that goes on in sport across the school."

Welcoming the awards, Sport England chief executive David Moffett said Downsbrook and other successful schools were good examples for others to follow.

He said: "We are finding more and more of our young people are becoming overweight as a result of a sedentary lifestyle.

"We need to re-emphasise the benefits of sport and physical activity to children and young people through positive first experiences at school.

"These schools have been awarded Activemark for doing just that. They have shown a dedication to bring PE and sport to the fore of the school's focus and have encouraged their pupils to be active both in and out of lessons."

Activemark status is valid for three years and Sport England encourages successful schools to celebrate their achievement with pupils, staff, parents and partner organisations.

All schools that express an interest in the scheme receive a copy of the Active School Resource Pack for Primary Schools, produced by the British Heart Foundation.

Under the theme of 'Get Active, Stay Active', it is a source of information and practical ideas for teachers, including traditional and modern games and activities that can be built into a daily routine.

Winning schools receive a plaque and certificate to display.

For more information about Activemark, telephone 0800 169 2299 between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. The closing date for the next round of applications is March 1 2003.