2018-19 What a Year of Sport!

2018-19 has certainly been a busy year. Find out some of our sporting highlights of the year.

It has certainly been a busy year or PE & sport at Bidston Avenue.  You can read about the competitions and activities we have been part of in our other blog posts.  

PESSPA Survey Results

60%  said taking part in PESSPA helped with their self-confidence.  80% thought that PESSPA helped them to be more determined and 94% thought that it helped to develop their teamwork skills.

We asked children to choose three words to describe PESSPA at Bidston Avenue (we put their responses into a word cloud):

We also asked children what they have enjoyed most about taking part in one of our lunchtime or after-school clubs:

All children in KS2 represent our school at at least one (level two) competition a year.  We asked them what it felt like:

Some thoughts from children asked what they had learnt taking part in PESSPA:

"I taught some Y3&4s gymnastics and it makes me really proud when they compete."  -Lauren (Y5)

"I felt like I was part of the sport we do at Bidston Avenue." -Y6 child (after taking part in a competition where they represented the school for the first time)

When asked  what sort of things children had learnt taking part in PESSPA:

"You can take part in whatever things you like and use teamwork to get through it all." -Isabella (Y4)

‘Confidence. Never give up!’ -Caiden (Y3)

‘How to communicate more with people you don't know.’ –Avril (Y5)

‘How to take care of myself and have fun at the same time.’ –Zoe (Y6)

That I can do more than I thought I could. -Jess (Y5)

Merseyside School Games Champions for Sitting Volleyball

This year saw two teams from Bidston Avenue enter events at the Merseyside Games.  Our sitting volleyball team qualified for the county finals after winning a competition back in February.  A second team from Bidston Avenue was invited to take part in the first dodgeball competition at the finals.  Both teams enjoyed taking part in the daily mile, with over one thousand other competitors from across the county, before competition started.

Our sitting volleyball team found their rhythm early on and, despite some tough opposition, progressed through the group stages and into the finals.  Their great teamwork and determination saw them win in the final and bring the trophy back to Bidston Avenue, as Merseyside School Games sitting volleyball champions.

Co-op Academy Bebington- Primary School of the Year 2019

Just hours after seeing our sitting volleyball team return from the Merseyside Games as champions, the PE team were at Co-op Academy Bebington's Sporting Celebration.  In what was a fantastic celebration of sport, the PE team heard from the inspirational Andy Grant and saw children from across the academy collect awards for their efforts in sport this year.   

The team from Bidston Avenue also collected an award for Primary School of the Year 2019.  Paul Connolly (Assistant Headteacher, Co-op Academy Bebington) said when presenting the award:

"I don’t know where to start with Bidston Avenue.  They are an absolute beacon of best practice for everything they do.  At a time when, nationally, curriculum time for PE is decreasing and more and more children are becoming physically inactive, Bidston Avenue are bucking the trend." 

Your School Games Platinum School Games Mark

In the last week of the school year, we heard back to say that Bidston Avenue had been successful in applying for the School Games Platinum Mark Award.  We began our journey towards the Platinum Mark in 2012-13 when we were awarded the bronze level of the award, then silver the next year and since 2014-15 have achieved the Gold Mark each year.  

This year, we not only completed the criteria for the Gold Mark but also completed a case study about how we involve children in our competition offer.  In fact, for many years, children in Y5 have trained as sports leaders and have been active across the school at lunchtimes working with younger children as play leaders, mini-whistlers and active playground leaders.  This year, our leaders have also been involved in planning, organising and delivering inter-school (level two) competitions.  This is certainly a step-up from organising intra-school competitions but an opportunity that our leaders have relished and risen to.  

More over, the Platinum Mark is testament to the hard work, determination, passion and commitment to the children, parents and staff at Bidston Avenue for recognising the power or PE & sport in helping to encourage children to lead healthy active lives.   

2018-19 in numbers:

• Over 1.49million active minutes- that's how much time children from Y1-6 have been involved in PE/sport activities (ranging from the daily mile and PE lessons, to competitions)
• We've taken part in 52 level two competitions
• 66% of children who took part in our PESSPA survey said they loved PE
• 35% of children surveyed want even more PE and another 30% would make PE lessons longer
• 30 clubs- that's how many different clubs the children from Bidston Avenue attend or are members of, outside school
• 1264 signups to take part in lunchtime and after-school clubs throughout the year

Here is a video to give an insight into what a  year in sport at Bidston Avenue looks like:

 

Plans are already in place and we're looking forward to making 2019-20 even better than this year!