WOOLACOMBE SCHOOL – PE and SCHOOL SPORT
Woolacombe School has been awarded the Gold School Games Mark
for the 7th year running. For performance during the 2022/2023 Academic Year.
Well done to Natalie Gibson and our staff who deliver high quality PE provision to all of our children.
The School Games Mark is currently available for all School Games Registered Schools.
At our schools Physical Education and Sport plays an important role in ensuring that we offer the very best and enriched experiences to our children. PE is high focus within the school day but also in lunch-time provision and extra-curricular clubs etc.
OUR PE CURRICULUM
A wide range of PE is delivered to the pupils, which aims to engage and inspire and give the necessary skills and knowledge for healthy life-styles.
Sports taught are wide and varied, both during the school day, and as extra- curricular clubs. Opportunities include, netball, hockey, tag-rugby, football, volley-ball, tennis and cross country. In addition, we attend a wide variety of sporting events which have high participation rates. We are noted for our prowess in many areas and locally are the school ‘to beat’! Participation is first and foremost which then leads to talent spotting and ensuring that those pupils with abilities can be extended.
In addition, funds are used to employ a Specialist Sports Coach to support PE and this expertise is used across the school to teach pupils in EY, Key Stage One and Two in PE and Games.
We are keen to develop all our staff and a specialist PE teacher works alongside staff to develop their expertise in teaching high quality PE.
Being a coastal school, we highly value swimming as an essential life skill for our children. Lessons are held at the local pool every week from Year 2 onwards (Year One in Summer Two Term) and the majority of children are able to swim in excess of 100m plus. There are outstanding skills across all age groups and as a school we made the National Finals for the English Schools Swimming Association in Sheffield in June 2022, which was a phenonminal achievement. We also incorporate Beach Lifeguard Days into the Curriculum on an annual basis from Year 2-6.
As well as regular PE lessons and daily physical activity, often linked to Languages, the school has specific subject modules. ‘Healthy Schools & Fitness and Safety Weeks ’ are run annually where parents and the local community are invited to assist us in promoting a healthy life style to the pupils. Pupils participate in workshops such as Bleep Tests and techniques to aid speed, muscle memory etc. We also invite other coaches in to provide opportunties for children to experience different sports and activities e.g. Tai-Chi, Yoga, Karate etc. Our Year 5 children are trained play ground leaders and earn different badges as they demonstrate their playground leadership skills throughout the year.
School Sports Day incorporates family groupings providing mixed core activities as well as traditional competitive sports which include all children from EYFS to Year 6 being able to skip and run distance events etc.
The school is keen to provide a wide range of extra-curricular clubs for pupils throughout the year. Many of these clubs are run by our teaching and support staff. Pupils enjoy the opportunity to work with different teachers and coaches and have the chance to try sports such as; Netball, Tennis, Football, Multi- skills, Hockey, Cricket, Rounders, Athletics, Surfing, Kwik- Cricket and Cross Country. We monitor participation and check uptake against gender, SEN and free school meals.
We are also registered with the Children’s University so our clubs are accredited.
We also enter a wide range of competitions in these sports and have a long standing track record of swimming wins at local and regional and National level. We won the local area cross country events and North Devon Aquathlon Teams. Our teams are always placed highly.
PARTNERSHIP WORK
Our school is part of the Ilfracombe Learning Community of Schools, a group of ten schools which includes one secondary school which offer festivals and competitions for the children and the sharing of good practice. We have found this beneficial as it has given our children the opportunity to participate regularly in Inter-School competitions, and use the wider range of resources which the secondary school in the cluster is able to offer. There are a wide range of competitions which allow all children to compete e.g. Athletics, Multi-Skills Festival etc.
Our own school organises the long-standing and successful North Devon Aquathlon which has more than 250 pupils participating every year. We also organise and run the Ilfracombe Swimming Gala and host a large number of intra-school events.
We have supported other schools, particularly the smaller ones, with expertise in swimming and transport.
BARRIERS ENCOUNTERED
Transport to competitions carries a huge cost burden. The school has invested in a Mini- bus to counter-act this.
Travel time to competitions means that it can cut into the lunch- time and morning sessions. Carefully planned events and being involved in the organisation and evaluation is helpful to ensure better timings.
The Swimming and transport costs are also huge. These are heavily subsidised by the parents, the school budget and fund raising as swimming is seen as a life-skill and necessity.
The new Government Funding is supporting us in ring fencing money to offer top up swimming.
“All children to develop the healthiest of life-styles and to achieve their sporting best’. We feel that Physical Education plays an important role in helping us to fulfil this statement. We have worked hard to develop our Physical Education through curriculum time and extra- curricular activities.
Woolacombe School PE and School Sports Funding 23-24
_Woolacombe School PE and School Sports Funding 22-23 - final draft for LSC Summer 2 RAG