Handforth Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 2LX

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The Wilmslow Academy

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STAYING FIT AND HEALTHY AT

THE WILMSLOW ACADEMY

(Updated June 2023)

 

If you are interested in finding out more about fitness and sport at The Wilmslow Academy, you have come to the right place! On this page, you will find information about how we spend the PE and Sport Premium, what competitions we enter and the many different ways that children at our school stay fit and healthy.

If your child is keen to become more involved in sport outside school, there are also links to different local clubs which already work with the school.

 

What is the 'Daily Mile'?

The Government's new 'Childhood Obesity Strategy' calls on primary schools to provide 30 minutes of physical activity every day. The Wilmslow Academy has joined more than 1,910 other schools in the UK in adopting the Daily Mile as one way to achieve this.

The Daily Mile is a social activity, which takes place in the fresh air with friends. Children are encouraged to walk, jog or run at their own pace for 15 minutes. At The Wilmslow Academy, KS2 children usually complete the Daily Mile between the two afternoon lessons.

Schools that complete the Daily Mile have found that children are more motivated and more resilient when faced with challenges in the classroom. Please follow the link to read the 'Coppermile Report', which explains these findings.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have carried out the first study into the effectiveness of the Daily Mile. The results confirmed that it IMPROVES fitness, REDUCES body fat and INCREASES activity levels in children.

Here is what some of our children say about the Daily Mile:

'When I am not already running around, it makes me get up and increases my movement.' - Matthew, Y6

'It makes me feel refreshed and gives me a chance to relax and breathe when I am stressed.' - Mia, Y6

Click here to visit the Daily Mile website

 

Which external coaches work with The Wilmslow Academy?

At The Wilmslow Academy, there are lots of after-school clubs to encourage children to stay fit and healthy. Children have the opportunity to work with coaches from different local clubs, including Wilmslow Football Academy (WFA), Wilmslow Lightning Netball Club and Premier Football Coaching (PFC).

 

Click here to visit the Premier Football Coaching (PFC) website

Click here to visit the Wilmslow Football Academy (WFA) website

Click here to visit the Total Gymnastics website

Click here to visit the Wilmslow Lightning Netball Club website

 

Who are the 'School Games Makers'?

The School Games Makers programme encourages young people to become leaders through sport and to encourage their less active peers to get involved in sport or physical activity.

At the Wilmslow Academy, Mr Hughes helps our carefully chosen and extremely enthusiastic team of School Games Makers to promote the Youth Sport Trust's 'Active 30:30' initiative. This is a response to the Childhood Obesity Strategy mentioned above. Children are encouraged to do 30 minutes of physical exercise at school every day and another 30 minutes at home.

To help us to achieve this, the School Games Makers organise fun physical activities for KS2 classes at breaktime and lunchtime.

One of the most popular events organised by our School Games Makers is the annual Talent Show, which takes place every summer. You don't have to be good at sport to get involved! If you can sing, dance, play an instrument, do magic, tell jokes - or just about anything else - we want to hear from you!

Come back soon to watch clips of our School Games Makers talking about the 'Active 30:30' initiative.

 

What is the 'Pedometer Challenge'?

The Pedometer Challenge is a termly competition between KS2 classes and runs all year round. Every day, each class chooses a different child to wear their pedometer. He or she then tries to walk as many steps as they can during the day to add to their class total. At the end of the term, totals are collected to find out which class has been the most active. This class receives a special award in our Celebration Assembly.

 

What are 'Movements of the Day'?

'Movements of the Day' are simple physical activities that can be used at the beginning of a lesson, between lessons or at the end of the day. They do not require equipment or lots of space, so they are great for keeping children alert and active during lessons when they would otherwise be sitting.

 

What competitions do we enter?

The Wilmslow Academy is part of a large cluster of schools that compete every year in a wide range of sports, including netball, football and rounders. Unlike many clusters around the country, we continue to have the support of staff at our local high school, who organise different competitions throughout the year.  

As a member of the Aspire Academy Trust, we now have the opportunity to work with other schools, too. We hosted the very first Aspire Academy Trust Football Tournament, which was won by our friends at Puss Bank School.

This year, we have entered the following inter-school events:

  • Multi-skills
  • Rounders
  • Swimming
  • Football league
  • Netball league
  • Trust football competition
  • Cross country
  • Little Champions
  • Cricket
  • Circus skills

 

How well have we done?

Our successes:

We are proud to announce that we achieved the School Games Gold Mark Award for 2022-23. The School Games Mark is a Government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community.

Next year, we're going for Gold again, and then - fingers crossed - Platinum in 2025!

 

What is 'Forest School'?

 

Forest School is an opportunity for children to have hands-on learning experiences in a natural environment. At The Wilmslow Academy, our Forest School Leader is Miss Strafford. She gives children the chance to go 'behind the hills' to cook in a mud kitchen, build dens and mud slides, make bird feeders from natural materials and cook marshmallows over an open fire.

'The Wilmslow Academy Forest School is an exciting opportunity for your child to experience nature and learn outdoors. At Forest School the children learn from first-hand experience and develop skills such as perseverance, independence and responsibility. These are all skills that will help them to achieve more when they are back in the classroom. Children are able to practise and use their maths and English skills, as well as their important speaking and listening skills.' - Miss Strafford, Forest School Leader

Click here to visit the Forest School website

 

What about swimming?

At The Wilmslow Academy, Year 5 and some Year 6 children have swimming lessons at Wilmslow Leisure Centre.

Year 5 swimming resumed in September 2022 and in March 2023 we had three weeks of on-site swimming.

Click here to find out more about swimming competence in Year 6 - 2018/2019

Click here to find out more about swimming competence in Year 6 - 2021/2022

Click here to find out more about swimming competence in Year 6 - 2022/2023 

What is 'Bikeability'?

Bikeability is a scheme funded by the Department of Transport. It is designed to give young people the skills and confidence to ride, especially on roads.

Each year at The Wilmslow Academy, our Year 4 and Year 6 children work with Bikeability instructors, first on the playground and then on surrounding roads. We consider this course an important step towards the children becoming more independent.

Click here to visit the Bikeability website

 

How do we spend the PE and Sport Premium?

Please read this document to find out how we have spent the PE and Sport Premium and what impact the funding has had at our school:

School Sports Premium 2017-2018

 Anticipated use of Sports Premium 2018-2019

School Sports Premium 2018-19

School Sports Premium 2020-21

School Sports Premium 2021-22

School Sports Premium 2022-23

Anticipate use of Sports Premium 2023-2024

 

If you would prefer a hard copy of any of the information on any part of the website, please contact the school directly and we will get a paper copy to you.

 

How can you get involved?

Parents and carers have an important part to play in ensuring that the children at The Wilmslow Academy are as fit and healthy as possible.

Please make sure that your child's class teacher knows which sports they enjoy and play outside school.

If your child is invited to play sport for the school, you are usually welcome to attend fixtures and cheer the team along!

We welcome your feedback, whether positive or negative, about any of the sports clubs that your child attends at The Wilmslow Academy.

Please encourage your child to be active for at least 30 minutes each day after school.

 

Who are the School Games Parent Ambassadors?

A big thank you to Carly Heselwood and Rick Bebbington, who have agreed to be Parent Ambassadors for PE and meet regularly with us to discuss how we can continue to improve our offer. They are interested to hear your feedback, positive or negative, about the PE provision at our school.

Click here to read Carly's profile

The Gallery

(Y4 multi-skills festival / Spring Term 2022)

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