Fernwood School Sport Family News
Fernwood Infant School : Fernwood Junior School: Middleton Primary School
Southwold Primary School : Woodlands School
STORY TITLE: Eton Rowing
Since their first year in 1990, the Eton Rowing Courses have aimed to introduce those who have not rowed before to as many aspects of the sport as possible, and to take those who are already committed to a higher level. Students progress through a variety of boats from single sculls to eights, and the coaches focus on developing the correct technique in an unparalleled rowing environment, which caters for maximum enjoyment of the sport. The Courses make use of Eton’s various boathouses on the Thames, as well as the purpose-built course at Dorney Lake which will serve as the rowing venue for the London Olympic Games in 2012.In years to come, this summer will be remembered for the unprecedented levels of flood water wreaking havoc along the length of the Thames, but in such conditions the rowing courses were able to remain almost unaffected by making full use of Dorney Lake and its unrivalled rowing facilities. In addition, first time participants enjoyed a trip to the Rowing Museum in Henley early in the week, and evening activities included kayaking and roller-skiing, the latter providing an enjoyable and effective workout for the keen junior rower! All students took part in the Rowing Courses’ first ever Indoor Rowing Championships on the Thursday, and resident coach Alison Mowbray hosted a highly popular Q&A session on her experiences of winning an Olympic Silver Medal at Athens in 2004. The final morning would normally have included all students participating in Eton’s unique “Process of Boats”, but for the second week running this had to be cancelled sadly, due to dangerous conditions on the river.Click here to read the students accounts.
STORY TITLE: Fernwood Castle Sports Club
Background to the story / reason for the development
We wanted to do something specifically for the SEN students having noticed the positive impact on students who were involved in the ‘Arches’ project a few years ago. When Castle Sports opened up their competitions to mainstream it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to tie this in together, especially for our students who lack the confidence to go to the regular extra curricular clubs.
What were the key objectives and the actions taken?
We entered Castle Sports competitions on their calendar. Angela Saunders who is our PE TA, was happy to take responsibility for this, using the SSCo to support.She set up a lunchtime club which is promoted on the school club timetable. She approached particular students who she felt would benefit from participating. We managed to get some activity specific equipment from Sports Development.The club runs every week, although students can choose what they do from week to week, a focus is usually the activity leading up to the next competition.What have been the impact and achievements to date?
The students love having their own club, and thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Castle Sport competitions.They take responsibility for how it runs, equipment etc, developing their social skills.One student has since felt able to attend the school basketball club and is a valuable member of the school team.Another is undertaking the Sports Leaders course and is working towards leading the Castle Sports club. Angela has attended a SEN specific Sports Leader trainer’s course.Registers are taken and displayed in the Study Support area so that the students can track their attendance.There is a display of all the Castle Sports info, info, dates, teams and photo’s.The group have also produced a video of how there club runs to show to other students.Certificates are presented for the student’s attendanceWhat is still to be achieved?
- Increased participation for club. Since the attendance was put up as a display and the awarding of certificates was done in the SEN Dept, in view of everyone attendance has risen considerably.
- Further improvements in students confidence/ self esteem / organizational skills,so that they feel that they can access more activities/ competitions, whether in school or outside.
- More students feeling able to develop their leadership skills in an appropriate environment for them.
Some pictures...
