Seven sets of twins join same year at one school

Left to right: Ciaran, Cruz, Xander, Zak, teacher Tracy Shaw, Laila, Bryannah, Matthew and Connor Credit: Stoke Sentinel/BPM MEDIA

If you visit one school in the Midlands, you might be forgiven for feeling confused if you think you're seeing double when you walk the corridors.

That's because SEVEN sets of twins have joined the same year group at the Ormiston Horizon Academy in Stoke-on-Trent.

Five of the pairs of siblings are identical twins, so telling them apart can be a little tricky for staff.

The head of Year 7, Tracy Shaw, said. "We’ve had twins before, but never so many in the one year group. At the moment, we haven’t had any issues. They all seem to have settled in. They view it as quite funny. But at times, we have had to ask them, ‘which one are you?’.”

There are 211 students in their year, and the school have left it up to parents to decide whether to keep their twins in the same class, or split them up.

Some of the twins at the school Credit: Stoke Sentinel/BPM MEDIA

Eleven-year-old siblings Xander and Bryannah Barnett-Gibson, from Fegg Hayes, enjoy teasing each other.

Connor and Ciaran Jones Credit: Stoke Sentinel/BPM MEDIA

Another set of twins, Ciaran and Connor Jones, from Sandyford, enjoy different hobbies. Connor likes break-dancing and basketball, while his brother is a fan of boxing and football.

Connor said, “We are in the same class at school, but we don’t sit next to each other. We do pretend to be each other sometimes!”

Laila and Zak Copestick, from Packmoor, have also joined the school.Eleven-year-old Laila said, “I’m 15 minutes younger than Zak, but I feel older because I’m more responsible than him!”

And Matthew and Cruz Faulkner-Dunn not only share their birthdays with each, they also have the same birthday as their mum.

Five of the sets of twins already knew each other as they attended the same primary school.

According to the group, Twins UK, one in every 65 pregnancies results in a twin birth, with twins now making up three per cent of the general population.

Factors influencing the twinning rate include whether there is a history of twins on the mother’s side of the family and the mother’s age, height and weight.

In the last 20 years, the proportion of babies who are twins has risen dramatically, partly due to wider use of IVF.