Primary Physical Education Update
March 2023
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.”
Longlands receive Youth Sport Trust Gold Mark
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. The Youth Sports Trust also stated that the school's swimming provision data was outstanding
Shropshire Schools Tennis CPD
In partnership with Shropshire Schools Tennis, the LTA and The Shrewsbury Club over 15 teachers from across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin attended the Tennis CPD organised by The Marches Academy Trust. The CPD programme was hosted in the new Tennis Super Dome based in Shrewsbury.
Youth Sport Trust Awards 2023
The Marches Academy Trust were recently 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."
Primary Tennis Varsity success 2023
In February 2023, we hosted our Trust Primary Varsity Competition in partnership with Shropshire Schools Tennis held at The Shrewsbury Club. It was fantastic to see over 80 children engaging in the festival. Congratulations to Longlands Primary School on winning the event.
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!
Inspiring pupils and families by offering tickets to The New Saints Football Club
Current champions of Wales, The New Saints Football Club based in Oswestry are currently offering families within The Marches Academy Trust schools a special family ticket deal for their remanding games of the current season. Working in partnership, the aim is to support families across Shropshire attend football fixtures at low costs.
Market Drayton Town Visit
During the February Half Term club Market Drayton Town Football Club visited our Market Drayton Community Hub. Over 20 pupils engaged in their skills session and Q&A with the players. Thank you to Market Drayton Town FC for engaging. The children had a fantastic time!
Biggest Session Ever - Girls Football Festival
Our Primary PE Team ran a Girls’ Football Festival at Shrewsbury Sports Village. This was via our work as the Strategic Lead for the Barclays UK Girls’ Football Partnership for Shrewsbury. Over 70 children participated in the festival despite the snow!
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.”
Sport England Care Home Visit
Longlands Primary School recently welcomed Hatton Court Care Home back to Longlands. Funded and supported by Sport England and Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin their Year 5 pupils led active workshops with the residents. A great experience for all!
Active Tots - Tilstock C of E Primary School
Active Tots sessions at Tilstock C of E Primary School have started and are engaging well with community members in Tilstock and surrounding areas. 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.
As well as supporting schools to provide more out of school opportunities for their school children and community users, priority will be given to projects encouraging women and girls to be more active, those that help disadvantaged communities and culturally diverse communities and for those supporting special educational needs, disabilities or long term health conditions.
North Shropshire District Association Success
The first ever Forde Cup was contested in Wrexham with our North Shropshire District Association being the first ever winners of the competitions. Teams they faced included Wolverhampton District and Wrexham Schools Football FA.
Tilstock C of E Primary School Residential
Pupils in Year 5 and 6 from Tilstock C of E Primary School were great ambassadors for the school and the The Marches Academy Trust when out on their residential during March. They took part in a range of activities and showed great teamwork
Athletics Competition returning after 93 Years at Lower Heath C of E Primary School
In June 2023, Lower Heath C of E Primary School will host 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. The 2023 shield will see 4 local schools compete for the new shield.
Over 60 Children to Compete
in Half Marathon
Over 60 children from Oakmeadow C of E Primary School have signed up to take part in the Shropshire Schools Half Marathon Challenge, with the final 1.1mile celebration due to take part on 22nd April 2023.
Grange
Primary
School
welcome Athlete Matt
Grange Primary School welcomed athlete Matt Lee. Pupils had a special assembly and then took part in a sponsored circuit sessions in classes.
International Decathlete, Matthew Lee, visited Grange Primary School to inspire pupils in physical education.
Primary Physical Education Update
