School Focus: Support pupils with additional learning needs
Expression of Interest Overview
There is a scarcity of physical activity promoting opportunities and resources available for young people in the community neighbouring Welshpool Primary School, Powys. The school is an established hub for education and training, providing health and education sessions to the community, therefore a progressive step was proposed to be the provision of physical activity-based opportunities. In addition, improvements to the school infrastructure improving local facilities which can be used by local community clubs (e.g. Welsh Rugby Union). The intention was for the funding to be spent on four overarching areas to support the creation of a community hub:
- Infrastructure - refurbishment of grassy area and provision of floodlights
- Staff costs
- Provision of sessions
- Food during holiday clubs (as 31.8% of pupils are entitled to free school meals)
The school intended to liaise with the local community through local community groups and the School’s Governing Body, however, was no mention of consulting pupils.
Programme Implementation
The school received funding from December 2021 to July 2022. Monthly learning logs listed activities the school had been offering, such as a half-term club: skateboarding, boccia, archery, curling and rugby, together with pitch refurbishment. Through the monthly completion of learning logs, the following key reflective points were highlighted, and the school’s implementation of the programme was documented in the timeline shown in Figure 15.
What Worked Well:
- Linking with a special education school
- Positive feedback from the Welsh Rugby Union who struggled to find a suitable venue for an inclusive community club prior to this project (now use the school)
- Holiday clubs are at capacity
- Pupils felt they had attempted new experiences
- Working with Welshpool Together Group brings community groups together and improved access to external providers who need to travel (e.g. more efficient skateboarding providers to connect with several groups in a local area)
Learning Points:
- Earlier communication to community regarding pitch refurbishment plans to avoid negative perception that it was being run down
Next Steps:
- Further progress on pitch
- Rugby sessions to continue in Autumn term
- Coach will start well-being sessions with older pupils to talk about how sport can help with mental health issues
