Outcomes (Charleston)

More choice and more time for PE (Charleston group project)

1. Improvement in joined-up working

There is now better communication and coherence between curriculum PE, the out-of-hours Active Schools programme, the Charleston Community Complex community programme and Inverness Sports Centre programme. There are also better links to local sports clubs and to organisations involved with children’s activity serving the Charleston community school group.

This was acheived through:

• providing sport and physical activity noticeboards - signposting opportunities within the curriculum to progress on to extra-curricular and the after-schools community and club programmes, providing points of contacts, times and costs of activities
• improved communication between partner and activity providers in the voluntary sector and commercial sector
• designing and planning an integrated programme for PE that links curricular experiences to out-of-hours opportunities in the school development plan.

2. Meeting pupil needs

Pupils were fully involved in developing the activities within the programme. This has made an impact on the whole ethos of PE and has reduced the number of children who do not take part, improved discipline within the PE department, increased the number of pupils bringing PE kit and given some ownership of the PE programme to the pupils. This was accomplished through:

• a survey of pupils (S1-S4) using a questionnaire which was evaluated and used in the development of the choice programme
• new activities sourced and taken forward  - sub aqua, dodgeball, gymnastics club, dance, tennis, squash
• links to sports centre activities and local sports facilities to deliver PE sessions outwith the school
• provision of additional coaching and staff brought in to deliver the PE curriculum
• transport provided for pupils to local sport facilities for activities that could not be delivered within the school facilities
• development of the Dodgeball initiative

3. Planning and development

The PE curriculum and the Active Schools programme were jointly planned and embedded in the school development plan, resulting in:

• better timing of festivals and events
• more festivals and events for children and more children participating and assisting with the organisation of the events through providing funding for training of senior pupils involved in the Junior Sport Leader award
• developing a separate section in the school development plan to incorporate the PE/Active Schools/community/club links
• meeting with community partners and providers and supporting their work outwith the curriculum time.

4. Facility and access arrangements

The access arrangements to the facilities in the school and community complex have been opened up and plans taken forward to enhance the facilities available to pupil groups.

5. Developing volunteers

With the links from curricular PE to out-of-hours and community clubs, a programme was put in place to recruit, retain and develop volunteers to assist with programme delivery. This took the form of:

• senior pupils being provided with training for the Junior Sport Leader qualification
• grants to local clubs to put community volunteers through National Governing Body (NGB) awards
• NGB awards for school staff who ran school teams and clubs
• recognition of the work of volunteers in awards ceremonies.

6. Links to CSG primary schools to deliver PE

With additional staffing, the PE department was able to meet some of the needs of the primary school in its cluster and begin to develop the links that would create:

• better transition for pupils from P7 to S1
• development of a more coherent 3-18 curriculum
• staff from the secondary providing support for high quality PE in primary schools to complement the work of the primary class teacher.