PUPILS at a Dorchester school are waiting to hear if they have succeeded in breaking a world record.

Youngsters at the Thomas Hardye school took to the floor in an attempt to create the fastest human conveyor belt.

After several practice attempts, 100 pupils, aged 13 to 14, moved a mattress a distance of 54 metres in one minute and 54 seconds.

The current world record of two minutes and one second is held by Eisenhower Junior High School in Taylorsville, Utah, USA and was set in March 2005.

PE teacher Ed Long said the school was now waiting for the achievement to be validated by Guinness World Records.

He said: “The world record attempt was part of a whole day of activities to teach our pupils about the Olympic values.

“This part was to demonstrate the value of excellence.

“We had 250 kids practicing and then chose the fastest four tutor groups to do the real thing.”

He added: “It was a lot of fun and they all enjoyed it.

“Part of the challenge is that they can’t use their hands or feet, so they laid down in a row and rolled as the mattress got to them.”

Dorchester Carpets and Beds provided three single mattresses for the event.

Mr Long said: “Supplying these was a really kind and helpful gesture.”

As part of the day, called World in Dorset, Year Nine pupils took part in various PE and humanities activities.

Ex-Thomas Hardye pupil Serita Shone also came in to give a talk and answer questions.

The 2014 Winter Olympic hopeful suffered a bobsleigh crash when training in Germany.

Despite breaking her back, and fearing she would be left paralysed, Ms Shone is now back in training.

Mr Long said: “She spent some time speaking to our pupils and showing them photos of her injury and recovery.

“It was really inspiring.”

Other activities, focusing on the Olympic value of equality, encouraged pupils to think about athletes from poorer countries.

Mr Long said: “It made them realise that some countries win fewer medals because they cannot afford to send as many athletes to compete.

“Overall we had some really good feedback from the pupils, who said they learnt a lot and had the opportunity to be independent and creative.”