Creating opportunities for children to be active outside of school: Bacton Primary School
Bacton Primary School have used funding to set up several initiatives which encourage local parents and pupils to get more active outside of school. These initiatives, funded by the Opening Schools Facilities fund, include the community equipment hire hub which allows families to borrow items like scooters, badminton sets, football goals, and sticky ball darts to encourage more active play at home.
In addition, the school has trained members of staff to lead outdoor sessions, which encourage local children to get more active, and begun to incorporate physical activity into their already established breakfast club.
Who was the project aimed at?
The project has consisted of a weekly outdoor after-school learning club for pupils, incorporating physical activity into the existing breakfast club on offer, and an equipment hire hub which is open to the local community. As the uptake for this has been particularly high, the school operate a waitlist and a rotation system to ensure everyone gets a chance to benefit.
These initiatives have been designed to benefit both pupils and their families by providing access to sports equipment and promoting physical activity outside of school.
During school council meetings, the school asked children
what after school activities they would like to take part in to ensure the their voices were heard. Collaboration with Active Norfolk also enabled Bacton Primary to see the existing successes of incorporating physical activity into breakfast clubs, as demonstrated by previous projects the team had worked on.
What were the aims of the project?
The aims of both the sessions and the hire hub are to encourage children to embrace physical activity into their lives outside of school. These aims include:
- Supporting the development of a relationship between the learner and the natural world by promoting outdoor sessions.
- Promoting the holistic development of all involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
- Using a range of learner-centred processes to create a community.
- Giving children and families opportunities they wouldn’t have without the equipment, and encouraging active travel through the opportunity to hire bikes and scooters.
‘Highly popular with both parents and children’
The project has proven to be highly popular, with more families getting involved as word has spread. Both parents and children have embraced the opportunity to stay active. The partnership with Premier Education to run after-school scooter skills sessions using the same funding has been particularly popular. These sessions are open to both parents and children, helping them to get active together while learning new skills. The project has created new ways for families to engage in healthy activities, beyond the school setting.
Local parent David said that the community hire hub had been a great opportunity for his family. “We hired the table tennis from the hub, and then went out and bought a table tennis set because they loved it.”
“I’ve loved it because it’s a great reminder of what I used to do when I was a boy.”
The school have monitored the impact of the initiative through regular school council meetings, observation, wishes and feelings and pupil/parent questionnaires.
What’s next for the project?
With the success of the initiative, Bacton Primary School is planning to apply for a three-year maintenance grant to build upon the existing success of the project. This grant will help ensure the sustainability of the hire hub, an increase in the range of equipment on offer, and will allow the continuation of the popular skills sessions.
In addition to the after-school clubs, the school are looking to schedule weekly/fortnightly Outdoor active sessions during the school day. This is with the hopes that all children in school could take part in sessions
Find out more
To find out more about the work we do with local schools and providers, check out our localities page. You can find your local officer, and get in touch to hear more about opportunities in your area.