Local Middle School Achieves Sports College Status
World Champion Jenna Downing's visit to Hirst Park Middle School
Hirst Park Middle School in Ashington has recently been awarded ‘Sports College’ status which is an outstanding and significant achievement for the school and will have a wider impact on the local area. To celebrate this achievement and to help promote Northumberland Sport’s Sport Unlimited programme, Sporting Champion and 2008 Extreme Inline Skating World Champion, Jenna Downing recently attended the school to provide some further inspiration to the school children.
As part of a week of celebrations, a raft of sporting activities were delivered to pupils with teaching staff emphasising the importance sport can play in the lives of young people. Teaching staff have also been encouraged to use the ethics of sport in their teaching, for example the importance of teamwork in an effort to raise the standards of learning across the school curriculum.
Patricia McBride, Director of Sport at Hirst Park Middle School and a representative of the Ashington School Sport Partnership said: “Sports Colleges aim to use sport as a vehicle to raise standards in schools in all subjects. It is widely recognised that sport develops skills for life, building confidence and self-esteem. Our vision at HirstPark is to use the values of sport across the whole curriculum to raise aspirations and achievement of students.”
Working towards the 5 Hour Offer
By working with local partners including Northumberland Sport, Patricia will also work to develop Sport Unlimited, a national Sport England funded programme aimed at boosting participation among those aged between 10 and 19 by giving them the freedom to choose from a wide variety of local sports on offer. As part of this process, the school also hopes to make more use of community facilities by using Hirst Welfare for lessons and for after school clubs.
Sporting Champion Jenna, said: “Sport Unlimited is a very exciting programme and something I wish I had the opportunity to get involved in when I was at school. Hopefully the pupils today will be able to get involved in the wide range of sports on offer such as golf, multi-sport activities, basketball and much more in the local area. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the staff and the children at the school for attaining School Sports College status, which will hopefully encourage more young people in the school to get involved in more sports activities.”
Further Information
For further information about Hirst Park attaining Sports College status, please contact Patricia McBride. For further information on the Sport Unlimited programme in the Wansbeck area, please click here.
