Primary schools from Wolverhampton recognised for their excellent work at annual PE conference

Two primary schools from Wolverhampton were successful in winning awards at the annual Black Country Primary PE & Sport Premium Conference.

The conference, organised by Active Black Country, was held on Thursday 7th March at the Copthorne Hotel in Dudley, and was attended by over 250 representatives from primary schools and physical education providers from across the Black Country.

Delegates were able to attend a selection of 8 workshops from Mental Health and Dance to Active Travel and Swimming, with the intention of taking what they learned back to their schools.

As is now a permanent fixture of the conference, Active Black Country gave out two awards for the excellent work primary schools across the Black Country are doing to increase physical activity levels and improve physical education (PE) within schools.

Our winners for 2019 were:

Category: Physical Activity and Health Enhancing Initiatives

Winner: St Luke’s C of E (aided) Primary School, Wolverhampton

To promote Healthy Active Lifestyles and the importance of physical activity within school, as well as tackling the obesity crisis, St Luke’s appointed a ‘Community Sport and Health Officer’ (CSHO). They created a timetable that would enable the CSHO to work with as many children across the school as possible, from Reception to Year 6. It was important to St Luke’s and their CSHO that they were fully immersed in the daily school routine, and they ensured a breadth and depth of the curriculum was covered on the timetable.

Category: Whole School Improvement

Winner: St Andrew’s C of E Primary School, Wolverhampton

A member of staff was given a responsibility for PE / Sport in school. Parents were surveyed to determine the children’s interests and what they would like to take part in, and then sports coaches were employed working on specific targets at lunch times linked to ARE (Age Related Expectations). Pupils have been trained to become Sports Ambassadors to aid and lead younger children’s learning, with a member of staff appointed as a new coordinator solely for healthy schools to encourage healthy lifestyles. Teachers are undertaking more CPD, and all children have 2 hours of PE per week.

Ian Carey, Active Black Country Director said, 

It’s great to see primary schools in Wolverhampton recognised for taking innovative approaches to utilising their Primary PE & Sport Premium funding. Our annual conference was a great stage for this recognition and it is now part of the event we all look forward to. The awards were established to recognise schools that have endeavoured to provide improved outcomes for pupils using this funding and this year’s winners were no exception.”

Councillor Lynne Moran, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said:  

There is some fantastic work going on in our schools to help improve the health and wellbeing of our young people, and I am delighted that the particular efforts of staff and pupils at St Luke’s and St Andrew's schools have been recognised with these special awards.”

Head Teacher of St Luke’s Primary School, Alison Grennan said:

We are thrilled that our hard work and continued commitment to raising the profile of PE and Sports in our school has been recognised. The role of our Community Sport and Health Officer has been extremely valuable in helping our school to promote and increase the opportunities for Healthy Active Lifestyles and Physical Activity across the curriculum."

Cassie McCalliog, a Teacher from St Andrew’s Primary School, said:

We are extremely proud of our achievement. At St Andrews CE Primary School, we have transformed our vision and the value of PE, which has in turn, impacted attainment, the physical abilities of the children and the life skills they have gained”

Active Black Country is one of 43 County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) in England working to provide opportunities for people to participate in sport and physical activity across the Black Country. 

To find out more about the Active Black Country Partnership, visit www.activeblackcountry.co.uk or follow us on twitter @bcbeactive

ENDS