A WEEK-long sporting event has been taking place at a Bradford school to commemorate the life of a much-loved teacher who died during a PE lesson.

Barry Holden suffered a heart attack while overseeing a Tour de France sports day at Southfield Grange school, Little Horton, last July.

The school decided that a fitting way to remember the PE teacher, who spent much of his 30-year career at Southfield and neighbouring Grange Technology College, was to hold a week-long games event at the school, almost a year to the day since he died aged 55.

Around 10 schools from across the district took part in the event, which began on Monday and concludes today.

Mr Holden was a big supporter of disability sport, and contributed to creating a grass roots structure across Bradford and the Yorkshire & Humberside region.

The special school hosted a variety of traditional activities during the week, including cycling, football, cricket, climbing and dancing. This was alongside more unusual activities such as zorbing, an assault course, surf simulator and a rebound trampoline. Students took part in other off-campus activities at various venues, including cycling in Lister Park, watersports at Doe Park near Denholme and Yeadon Tarn and a swimming gala at Bowling Pool.

And yesterday, they were joined by Bradford Bulls CEO Robbie Hunter Paul for a rugby event.

The games were also supported by a group of volunteers from Bradford West Rotary, an organisation which has a long association with Southfield and supported last year’s Tour de France Sports Day. The volunteers joined a team of ‘gamesmakers’ to keep the events on track, all wearing t shirts bearing an image of the beloved teacher.

In March, Mr Holden was posthumously given the Achievement Award at the Telegraph & Argus school awards, which was attended by his family, friends and co workers.

The school set up a fund in Mr Holden’s name to coordinate activities and fundraise and ‘The Year for Barry’ was created to support students and staff in coming to terms with the loss of a popular teacher and to celebrate his life.

Headteacher, Dominic Wall said: “This week hundreds of young people with disabilities have enjoyed fun in the sun, playing sport with their friends.

"The event has taken a great deal of organisation and hasn’t been without it’s challenges, not least the hot weather, and I cannot thank the staff enough for their commitment to making it such a success.

"The students have enjoyed a memorable week and participated in a phenomenal range of activities, many of which they would not normally have access. This is the most fitting tribute possible to the memory of Barry Holden and we look forward repeating the event next year.”