School Sports Partnership
Bishop Challoner School Sports Partnership
Bishop Challoner Catholic College became a Specialist Sports College in 2000 and is one of many schools at the heart of the Government's strategy to enhance young people's opportunities to participate in a wide range of sports as well as raising the standards of teaching and learning of PE and school sport.
What is a School Sports Partnership?
School Sport Partnerships (SSPs) are groups of schools working together to develop Physical Education (PE) and school/community sport opportunities for all young people. Bishop Challoner Catholic College is the hub site for the SSP and this comprises 5 other secondary schools (King Edward VI Camp Hill Boys, King Edward VI Camp Hill Girls, Wheelers Lane Technology College, Swanshurst Girls School and Queensbridge Visual and Performing Arts School) and 24 Primary schools, totalling over 11,000 young people.
Who manages the partnership?
The Bishop Challoner SSP is managed and developed by a dedicated team of people comprising of the following positions:
- A Partnership Development Manager (PDM)
- 4 School Sport Co-coordinators (SSCos);
- 24 Primary Link teachers (PLTs).
- 1 Competition Manager
A PDM is a full-time role usually based within a Sports College. They manage the SSP and develop strategic links with key partners, such as the Local Authority and the youth Sport Trust, in sport and the wider community, such as local sports clubs. The PDMs for our SSP are Derek McDermott and Claire Place and they can be contacted on 441 6102.
An SSCo is based in a secondary school and concentrates on improving school sport opportunities, including out of hours school learning, intra and inter-school competition and club links, across a family of schools. The SSCos for our SSP are Claire Place, Sam Caherty, Adam Speake and Rachel Sawford and they can also be contacted on 441 6102.
PLTs are based in each of the primary and special schools and aim to improve the quantity and quality of PE and sport in their own schools.
The Competition Manager is responsible for organising inter school competition and usually works across several SSPs. The Competition Manager for our SSP is Phil Homer.
What do we do?
The new 5 hour offer
In July 2006 London was awarded the Olympic and Paralympic Games and 12 months later the Prime Minister announced additional investment into PE and sport. To ensure this happens the Government have set a new Public Service Agreement (PSA) target which is around delivery of a sustainable legacy to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The PSA target states:
In addition to at least 2 hours per week of high quality PE and Sport in school for all 5 - 16 year olds, all children and young people aged 5 - 19 will be offered opportunities to participate in a further 3 hours per week of sporting activities provided through schools, FE Colleges, clubs and community providers'.
The PSA is a target for all community partners including Local Authorities, County Sport Partnerships, School Sport Partnerships, Extended Provision, Primary Care Trusts, Schools, FE / HE Colleges and other community and voluntary organisations. Thus partnership working towards this target is vital.
To work towards the PSA there is a new strategy entitled PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) which contains 10 work strands, all of which are supported with funding,
These are:
- Infrastructure
- Club Links
- Coaching
- CPD
- Disability
- Sport Unlimited
- Gifted & Talented
- Leadership & Volunteering
- Swimming
- Competition
As a team, we drive PE and school/community sport across the SSP and in some instances work with other partnerships, such as Baverstock SSP, to further develop the opportunities available to all students. Currently, the partnership is working hard to develop school to club links which enables students to take part in sport outside of school if they so wish. This also provides students with the information to join a club, if they were unsure about where to go. This year we have set up new clubs at Moor Green Primary School in cheerleading and at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in judo. To find more details about the clubs go to www.bishopchallonerssp.co.uk
One of our major focuses in schools is to develop young sports leaders and support them to become qualified coaches and officials etc and then to volunteer their time within the local community. Our Leadership Academy aims to develop leadership and volunteering at a secondary school level. As a result secondary schools pupils are trained in working with young pupils in a variety of sports/activities and are then able to develop and deliver small competitions and festivals for local primary schools within the partnership.
Sporting competition opportunities are also developed by the Competition Manager which ensures a wide variety of sporting opportunities are available throughout the year. Since the competition manager works across several partnerships, schools from one partnership have the opportunity to compete with schools from another partnership. This year we are organising competitions in such sports/activities as dance, cricket, table tennis, judo and football.
It is an annual event for the SSP to hold its very own football competition which sees almost every primary school form across the partnership taking part. The different categories enable students of both genders and all abilities to participate with teachers and pupils alike thoroughly enjoying the day, which is why they keep coming back for more!
Whist the Competition Manager provides opportunities for Inter school competition, SSCo's and PLT'S help organise both intra and inter school competition within schools, developing generic sports skills, social skills, team skills and co-operative skills of all its pupils. In addition, schools deliver extra curricular activities which are usually tailored to the schools needs. In some instances sports coaches are employed by the SSP to deliver activities before or after school, which helps promote the 5 hour offer.
Being the Hub site Bishop Challoner had a fantastic sports hall and an Olympic size Dojo, which enables local clubs to use our facilities, this in turn enables our students from across the partnership to access clubs they may not have had access to in the past.
This is just a snapshot of what the SSP has to offer, there are several other programmes including Wake up Shake up, Premier League for Sport etc. If you have any questions please contact Derek McDermott (PDM) who will be happy to help.