Primary Physical Education Update - Annual Report 2023

Primary Physical Education Update

Annual 2023

Primary school children get to grips with outdoor gym equipment funded by grant

Longlands Primary School has added the new cross-training style equipment to its playing field.

There are six stations in total, which the children can use for exercise at break times, as well as before and after school.

Headteacher Lisa Millington said they were delighted to have the equipment, and that it was also being used by older children in the community after school – as well as parents.

There are six stations in total, with some requiring two people to work together to use them, providing a co-operative exercising experience.

The funding for the equipment came from the Department for Education and Sport England

Grange Race for Life Summer Event 2023

In July 2023, Grange Primary School held their annual Tesco Race for Life fundraising event for Cancer Research. The Grange mascot Pip came to visit children and get involved!

Taylor Shaw Healthy Living Scheme

Emma from Taylor Shaw has visited our primary schools over the past 12 months along with their incredible Smoothie Bike! Children and staff have had an absolute blast choosing their favourite fruits and hopping on the bike to blend their own delicious smoothies.

Youth Sport Trust Awards 2023

The Marches Academy Trust were nominated for a Youth Sport Trust award. The nomination was for Multi Academy Trust of the Year in physical education and school sport. The awards evening took place at the Telford International Centre with Jill Scott, Queen of the Jungle and ex England Lionesses footballer as the keynote speaker.

We finished ‘Runners Up’ in the Multi Academy Trust Award for primary physical education - a fantastic achievement.

George Hounsell, Marches Academy Trust Director of Sport, Health & Community; "The judging panel were impressed with the breadth of PE, school sport and physical activity delivery taking place across our Trust schools in the primary setting. This runners up award is credit to our primary PE team that teach on a day-to-day basis and make a HUGE difference to our children."

Lower Heath Swimming Gala Success

Congratulations to Lower Heath CE Primary who competed in the Shropshire Schools Swimming Gala. Their talented children came first in the ‘Small Schools’ category and some children were even chosen to represent the school for the county!

Longlands Support African Children

Just over a year ago, Longlands Primary School sent their old sports competition kits to Kenya with support from RAF Shawbury. These kits were presented to Sr Emmah at the Kibagare Good News Centre and St Martins School.

Starling Bank Support Towards Tilstock C of E Primary School

Tilstock CE Primary School and Nursery applied for the funding which has been designed to help reduce costs for grassroots clubs and get more women and girls in the game.

Due to a surge in women and girls wanting to play football since the Lioness’s historic EURO win, Jill Scott and Starling Bank launched its ‘Kick On with Starling’ initiative which has been developed in partnership with Gift of Kit, the initiative will give £200,000 worth of kit, equipment and coaching vouchers to grassroots football clubs that either have an existing women’s or girl’s team or are creating a pathway to get more women and girls involved.

Helen Bierton, Chief Banking Officer, Starling Bank said: “Women’s football has come so far in the last year; we cannot let the cost of living crisis derail that progress. That’s why we’ve developed Kick On with Starling. It’s the next phase of our commitment to levelling the playing field, giving grassroots clubs the help they need to make women and girls’ sporting ambitions come true.”

Tennis Varsity Competition 2023

In partnership with Shropshire Schools Tennis and The Shrewsbury Club we hosted the Tennis Varsity Competition in February 2023. Over 80 children participated in the event in the new tennis super dome. Longlands Primary School were crowned winners.

Longlands Receive Youth Sport Trust Gold

Longlands Primary School has been awarded the Youth Sport Trust Gold Quality Mark for its commitment to physical education and school sport. The Quality Mark is a nationally recognised badge of excellence for the quality of PE and school sport.

Inspiring pupils and families by offering free tickets to Birmingham City LFC.

Over 200 parents, pupils, and staff from across The Marches Academy Trust received tickets for the Birmingham City Ladies vs London Lionesses fixtures at St Andrews Stadium which is home to Birmingham City Football Club.

The Marches Academy Trust are the Strategic Lead for the Girls’ Football Partnership for Shrewsbury enabling access to free tickets for children and their families.

The aim of the programme is to get more families, particularly girls, interested in football and helping the women’s game. Girls’ football is proving more popular following the England Lionesses winning their first Women's Euro in 2022.

George Hounsell, Director of Sport, Health & Community comments, “We are fortunate to work alongside Birmingham City Football Club to give our children, young people, and their families these incredible opportunities. Many will never have experienced the atmosphere of a football game and we also hope it will inspire more to take up the sport.”

The 3x3 Basketball England Legacy Fund

Following the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Sport England has supported 21 national governing bodies of sport with a share of £6 5million in National Lottery Funding.

Basketball England has received £200,000 to invest in the development of 3x3, focusing on the West Midlands but also giving communities across the country the opportunity to access the funding.

The Marches Academy Trust received funding to work with Shropshire communities delivering 3x3 basketball activities. Longlands Primary School and Long Mountain C of E Primary School both participated in a 3x3 basketball festival.

Trust Primary Dance Festival 2023

During February, we held our annual Trust Primary Dance Festival, along with invited school, Long Mountain C of E Primary School. Hosted at Shrewsbury School, the event saw over 70 children from across the Trust attend. There were big smiles all-round as the pupils learnt lots of new skills and improved in confidence throughout the day. A special shout-out and thank you to Shrewsbury School dance staff and students for making it a real success!

Active Tots Success

Active Tots sessions at Tilstock C of E Primary School have grown and grown since starting in February 2023. The sessions are designed to encourage children to get moving whilst having fun. This enables them to develop their fine and gross motor skills, socialise and grow in confidence.

4 Marches Academy Trust Schools Receive Funding

Communities in Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Shrewsbury area will soon benefit from the chance to access more varied opportunities to be physically active. Longlands Primary School, Sir John Talbot School, Grange Primary School and Shrewsbury Academy will open their doors outside of the normal school day for new or additional sport and physical activities.

A share of up to £57m worth of Opening School Facilities funding from the Department for Education has been invested to support schools across England. Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, has been working with local stakeholders to identify those communities and people that would most benefit from increased access to facilities to help them be more physically active

Schools play a vital role in encouraging children and young people to be more active. This funding will enable our schools to open up their facilities for children, young people and the wider community. They will be able to access more opportunities to be physically active, before school, after school, during weekends, evenings and school holidays.

Children and Care Home Residents Active Together

Residents of Market Drayton are benefitting in multiple ways from a project funded by Sport England’s Together Fund. The project aims to support the social cohesion of younger people and older adults within the community through physical activity and wellbeing activities. This project specifically targets the Lower Socio-Economic Group (LSEG) community living in an Index of Multiple Deprivation Level 2 (IMD 2) area.

This project started in August and supports 3 strands:

1) Gardening & Social Farm Activities including developing the orchard and knowledge of health eating activities

2) Sport and Physical Activity Sessions e.g. Zumba, seated clubbercise, bowls, boccia new age curling parachute activities yoga and line dancing

Over 60 Children Competed in Half Marathon

Over 60 children from Oakmeadow C of E Primary School took part in the Shropshire Schools Half Marathon Challenge in April 2023. The event took place at the Shrewsbury Show Ground.

Cricket Varsity Competition

During October, 50 children took part in the Trust cricket varsity event in partnership with the Shrewsbury School. All Trust primary schools and guest school Long Mountain C of E Primary School all played in the indoor cricket hall, a fantastic experience for our pupils and staff.

Athletics Competition Returned After 93 Years at Lower Heath C of E Primary School

In June 2023, Lower Heath C of E Primary School hosted the Lower Heath Villages Athletics Competition - previously known as Prees Village Schools Athletics. The competition was last organised in 1929 with Lower Heath beating Prees C of E Primary School to the shield. Longlands Primary School, Tilstock C of E Primary School and Addmore Federation all took part in the event, with Longlands Primary School being crowned champions.

Shropshire PE Conference 2022 Success

Building on the success of last year’s event, the Shropshire PE Conference 2022 was a not to be missed chance to gain inspiration and connect with sporting organisations.

CEO of the Youth Sport Trust, Ali Oliver MBE; Olympic Athlete, Holly Bradshaw and Co-Founder of The Art of Being Brilliant, Andy Whittaker were our 2022 keynote speakers.

Valuable workshops throughout the day took place from organisations including Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Bright Star, Tennis Shropshire, Teach Active, Skip2Bfit and Zero Bounds