The partnership continues to be strong with 13 primary schools across the Purbecks taking part in weekly events, and not only the children but staff too. We have had OA&A activity days, festivals, PE Conferences and pathway competitions. Where to start…….

Despite the recent rainy weather we have been fortunate enough to be able to deliver a full range pf events so far this term. We started the Year with three Dare to Believe activity afternoons for YR 1&2 and Yr 3&4. To these we invited a selection of DSEN children that schools felt would benefit from activities that developed team building, confidence, developing self esteem amongst other life skills. The children are always fully invested in these festivals and it was no different this year with between 70-90 children in attendance each week. To watch children enjoying activities such as Boccia, small sided games and activity stations where they need to work on accuracy and resilience is always rewarding. With many pupils not having attended The Purbeck School for an event before, it is always very quiet to start with but once everyone has settled in the level of interaction and noise as a result is always a pleasure to see and hear. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon for all involved. The yr 9/10 leaders did a fantastic job guiding the pupils through the session and they gain as much out of the afternoon as the participants.

These events were followed up with two weeks of competitive football, where the winning school would go through to the Dorset area final. To this event we also welcomed Bere Regis primary and it was lovely to see them in attendance. The first event was a mixed Yr 5&6 tournament where we had 9 schools attending and all schools performed brilliantly. The second event was the yr 5&6 Girls football event where again we had 7 schools attendance which made for a great afternoon of football. The winners for these were. St Marys Swanage won the mixed competition and St Marks won the Girls competition. Both schools will go on to represent the Purbeck area in the finals alter in the year.

We were really lucky with the weather in the first half term and we managed to intersperse the festivals/competitions with two activity days based at Buddens activity centre and Carey Camp. The first ones attendance rewards or for those children the school felt would benefit from an experience like this. Buddens staff were fantastic and they enabled the children to take part in activities such as crate stacking, archery, climbing and nightline. All the children had a fantastic day and left exhausted but happy. The second one was based at Carey camp provided an opportunity for some of the DSEN pupils to experience some outdoor and adventurous activities. This day involved slightly different activities with a huge emphasis on developing team work, communication and self confidence. The favoured activity by a long shot was the ~tunnels~ which involved children wearing head torches and crawling round in small spaces through tunnels. Not my idea of fun, but each to their own.

Back in October we held our annual PE Conference at Hethfelton House where we invited PE leads and Headteachers from all the primary schools in the partnership to come and discuss all things PE. We were lucky enough to be joined this year by Kate Thornton Bousfield who is the CEO of AFPE (Association for Physical Education) which is a national organisation that focuses on the effective delivery of PE within schools. Kate was a inspiring speaker and was able to enlighten us to some potential changes within the curriculum. She was extremely impressed with what we do and deliver as a partnership to our primary feeder schools and beyond.

Handball continues to a popular sport and is always well represented at events. This year was n different when we delivered 2 festivals where the sport was being introduced to some and further developed by others getting some performers ready for a Handball competition later in the year. The festivals were very much based around teaching through the game where skills were drip fed in as the afternoon progressed enabling participants to put certain elements of the game into practice before new ones were introduced. I understand the bit that most children remembered was the term, “crabbing” that was used to describe the movement around the defending circle. Not a technical term but still a strategy they hopefully remember. These festivals invited Yr 3&4 for one event and Yr 5&6 for another.

In November we hosted the annual Leadership academy for over 130 children. Along side the usual PE lessons being hosted by Purbeck Staff this is no mean feat trying to accommodate everyone. The day was delivered by 3 School games organisers alongside our own Yr 11 leaders who were amazing. Very encouraging and engaging with the younger pupils a real credit to the school. The Yr 5&6 bronze Ambassadors spent the day learning some games that they could take back to school. They looked to develop their own leadership skills and qualities and they also had time to reflect on what they wanted to do when they went back to school in terms of how they could be utilised effectively within the playground and in lessons. As always an excellent day.

To round off the term we have had one event for each group. A KS1 multi skills event where the weather took a freezing turn and we had to bring the KS 1 pupils inside to experience a slightly different afternoon, but they had a thoroughly enjoyable experience playing Boccia, working with indoor parachutes, combining skills and playground games such as rock, paper, scissors amongst lots of other small activities and games. Again some slight nervousness to start so was very quiet but 10 minutes in the noise level was high which is always a positive sign of engagement and enjoyment. Some exhausted KS1 left the building at 4pm.

Which led us to the two Football festivals for yr 3&4 and 5&6. These events were introduced last year with a real focus on inviting children that want to experience some football in school but maybe don’t have the opportunity to play outside of school. They are two really lovely events to deliver as the children just come and play. No scores are recorded which removes the pressure of a win or mistakes that might be made and the children just enjoy it. The staff always enjoy these events as do the children, and again this year they did not disappoint. To lovely afternoons although one was slightly wetter than the other.

We finished the term off with some training for potentially new Yr8 silver ambassadors. This involved some extensive teamwork activities based around the cube. It was fin to see them battle against each other to try to get the wining time, culminating in all 10 of them try t get through a hoop in 10 seconds.  Hopefully they will get the debut next term with the KS1 events.

As a partnership we feel it is really important to reward positive behaviours such as respect and teamwork. So, for each festival/competition I have also been awarding a TREDS award which looks to recognise teams that are adopting Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship. In all honesty this is a really difficult award to present as all of our schools adopt this mantra and make sure hands are shaken at the end of matches and people are helped up if fallen over etc. However, there are just little things that make the difference. Congratulating others on goal scored, telling someone that its ok if they made a mistake, cheering on their own team from the sideline. These things make a difference and so far this year, these are some of the schools that have received this. St Georges, Bovington, St Marys, Wareham St Marys and Swanage primary.

And that just about sums up this term. A massive thank you to our leaders again. They are fabulous and none of this is possible without them giving up their time and patience. They are extremely committed and I can’t thank them enough for all they do.

Miss Hamblin.