A ‘CLASS without grass’ has secured gold for the fourth year running and hopes to turn platinum as it strives to keep its pupils physically and mentally on top.
Reid Street Primary School, Darlington, has been awarded the gold award for school games for its efforts to keep children active.
In the heart of Darlington, next to the hospital, Reid Street Primary School has no fields of its own. But that hasn’t stopped children enjoying a full programme of activities.
The School Games Gold Mark is a government-led awards scheme launched in 2012. It aims to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition, allowing them to evaluate their PE provision and develop an action plan for future progress.
PE lead Stuart Banks said: “We may be the class without grass but it is important to include all the children, from all genders and backgrounds, and inspire as many as possible to be active, giving them the skills for secondary school and later in life.”
Reid Street makes full use of the nearby Denes and Abbey Playing Fields, which are owned by Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, with sixth formers often helping out with after school clubs.
Children also attend dance clubs for the gifted and able, fun dancing and a boys’ dance club. There is a non-gender specific football team, a girls’ football club and an Active 60 group which is trained to work with less active children at lunchtimes.
The school also runs dodge ball, rugby and athletics clubs and offers the opportunity to play rugby, athletics, football, cricket, cross-country and tennis. It organises inclusion festivals, blind and other disability sports and attends an ice skating festival for children with additional needs.
“There are a lot of barriers to exercise,” said Mr Banks. “Children are less active because of technology. COVID was a big issue because it meant they had to stay home for a long time. Money is tight at the moment and people often can’t afford to pay for clubs so we try to provide them in school along with the kit they need to take part.
“Different ethnicities – we have 42 per cent of pupils in reception where English isn’t their first language – have different views on physical activity compared to academic studies.
“So we enter as many cups, tournaments and development festivals as we can which are fun and improve skills. We also use our sports ambassadors to find out what pupils would like to see in schools.”
Principal Paula Ayto said: “We are so pleased to get gold again and are looking forward to applying for platinum. It is so good for the children physically and it helps their mental health. It has been a turbulent time for education and this shows we are hanging on to the things that really matter.”
