It certainly does the brighten the mood and as largely outdoor educators, the summer term is the one we all look forward to. Shorts on, legs out, sunglasses at the ready!

Our staff training event on Monday (see below) was a fantastic way to kick off the new term and we’re delighted to welcome two new Primary PE Specialists to the team. In total we now have 19 Primary PE Specialists, our biggest Moving Matters team EVER. We wish Cameron Scott and Eden Blake every success in their new roles with us and have every confidence they’ll have a great impact at their schools.

The energy at staff training was amazing and the subject knowledge and innovative practice demonstrated was really impressive. As an organisation with a remote workforce these days are very important in generating cohesion and unity within the group and setting the team up to being successful in delivering high quality PE across the summer term.

The summer term is always a very busy one at Moving Matters, as we start to plan forward to September, re-contract our member schools and promote services to new schools.

In addition we have our biggest competitions of the year, with ALL age ranges being offered an Athletics event, including our Gifted and Talented events at Tooting race track. We are also doing a Futsal competition this summer and all our staff will be supporting/planning sports days with each of their schools.

Finally we’re delighted to announce we now have EYFS Ofsted registration at established holiday camp site The Elmgreen school and new venue Immanuel and St Andrew primary school. This will mean from mid-summer half term we’ll be launching a new holiday camp site at Immanuel and St Andrew and welcoming reception aged children and above for full days at both our Ofsted registered camps.

Wishing you all a fab summer term.

Rob

Director

Summer Term Staff Training

Monday 17th April

As is our tradition we kicked off the start of summer term, with our Summer sports training day. An engaging and dynamic staff event to prepare the Moving Matters team to go back to their schools with great subject knowledge and ideas for Tennis, Cricket, Athletics and Early Years learning.

The training day kicked with an update from Rob and then staff were split into small groups to plan and prepare against 9 different skill ares; batting in Cricket as an example.

Each group then delivered a 30 minute session on their area. The sessions demonstrated age specific differentiation, key teaching points, progressive learning and clear success criteria.

In addition, the day featured a sessions on safeguarding, to ensure that the coaches were clear on expectations returning to schools.

The training day was not only informative, but also fostered a sense of camaraderie among the team, setting the stage for a successful and impactful summer term of providing quality school services to London schools.

School Services Value Proposition

Our School Services value proposition is of utmost importance as it is the unique combination of services, expertise, and benefits that sets our company apart from competitors.

As we move into the summer term and begin discussions about new work in the 2023/24 academic year, we just wanted to display what we think is important to schools we work with.

This has been another phenomenal year for the company and we are now working with the greatest number of schools across 5 London boroughs.

We welcome all schools to the Moving Matters family and offer FREE trials to prospective customers:

PE PPA Cover and Professional Development

Over the last month we have been redesigning our website to contain a much more in-depth look at what our services are and what they offer.

The biggest changes were made on the PE PPA Cover and Professional Development pages, now including testimonials from teachers, why schools in London trust us, what areas we cover and why we do what we do. Each with new images of staff that we have captured this year.

Check them out using the buttons below:

Competitions Programme – Summer Term

As we enter the Summer Term, our competitions programme gets to the most exciting events with the added element of great weather.

The summer competitions are:

• Year 4 & 5 Handball

• Year 1 Athletics

• Year 5 & 6 Futsal

• Year 2 Athletics

• Year 3/4 Athletics

• Year 5 & 6 Athletics

All of these events are fully booked (they even have a waiting list) except our Year 5 & 6 Futsal (pictured below), which currently has 7 spaces remaining. We are hoping to fill these quite quickly, and will be sending out emails next week regarding this.

If you want to get ahead of the curve and book your school in before all schools are made aware, you can do so by clicking the link below:

Summer Term Curriculum – Summer Sports

Our summer sports curriculum consists of tennis, cricket, and athletics, key areas in a well rounded primary physical education offer.

Learning these skills can have a positive impact on a student’s physical, social, and emotional development. Additionally, exposure to a variety of sports can help students discover new interests and talents, which can lead to lifelong hobbies or even professional careers.

We see children at their most engaged with PE during the summer term, with the fairer weather, so it’s a great time to hook them in and increase activity levels.

Select the link below to watch our How to Teach Tennis YouTube series.

I’ve also attached a skills map for teaching tennis to help aid and display what lessons can be taught to each age group:

New Staff Profile

Eden Blake

Role: Primary PE Specialist

Date Started: January 2023

Current Schools: Julians and Henry Cavendish

Favourite Subject at School: PE
Favourite Sports Team: Man United
Favourite Food: Everything!
Favourite Quote: “There is no better teacher than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.” – Malcolm X

Cameron Scott

Role: Primary PE Specialist

Date Started: June 2022

Current Schools: Herbert Morrison, Holy Trinity and Castle Hill

Favourite Subject at School: PE
Favourite Sports Team: Man United
Favourite Food: Chicken Wrap
Favourite Quote: “Only thing better than proving those who don’t believe you wrong , is proving those who believe right..”

Staff Social Accounts

Over the last year we have been prioritising the transparency of what we do across our schools and aiming to increase the exposure of PE through staff twitter accounts.

This has led to our staff members having a duty to manage their own social media, allowing parents, schools and other staff members to see just how they are getting on through the week.

It’s been great to see all the brilliant work the team are doing in their schools.

Using the button below, you will be taken to a list of all our staff Twitter accounts which you can follow and interact with, whether it be for After School Clubs, PE lessons, Soccer School sessions or Holiday Camps, you will be kept up to date with what they do and why they do it.

We’ve also decided to add a staff social aspect to our newsletters which will highlight some of the best tweets they post throughout the month.

Watch this space!

Parents

Easter Holiday Camp Recap

April Monday 3rd – Thursday 6th

Tuesday 11th – Friday 14th

Recap Video

Ofsted Approved Childcare for Reception Students

Did you know?

Only Ofsted approved sites should be providing childcare services to children across the country, it is a standard of provision that all should be adhering too.

Our site at The Elmgreen school has been Ofsted approved for over ten years and recently passed compliance. Our registration also enables parents to use childcare vouchers to pay for the provision at camp.

Our URN can be provided upon request.

For the last few years at our camps we have been providing spaces for Reception-aged children, but this has only consisted of half days (either mornings or afternoons) as due to Ofsted regulations, we could only host them for 3 hours and 59 minutes max.

From our Mid-Summer camp coming in the next half term (May/June), we will be able to host Reception-aged children for the full day following a positive Ofsted inspection on Tuesday.

This is very highly requested every camp and we are excited to be able to provide this to even more parents.

West Thornton HAF Camp Recap

Last week we launched our first HAF camp at West Thornton Primary School in the Croydon borough. The Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Programme is an important initiative aimed at addressing the issue of holiday hunger and promoting healthy activities for children during school holidays.

It recognises that many children who rely on free school meals during term time may face food insecurity and lack of access to activities during school breaks and we provides nutritious meals, engaging activities, and opportunities for socialisation, helping to improve the well-being, health, and development of vulnerable children, while also supporting families and communities.

It plays a vital role in promoting children’s physical and mental well-being, reducing food poverty, and fostering social inclusion, making it a crucial program for addressing the needs of vulnerable children during school holidays.

Moving Matters Soccer School

We are thrilled to announce that our Soccer School will be returning in the new term! After a break during the school holidays, we are eagerly preparing to welcome back our young athletes for another exciting season of skill-building, teamwork, and fun on the astro turf.

Our dedicated coaching staff is ready to provide top-notch training, tailored to different age groups and skill levels, to help our players develop their footballing abilities and grow their love for the game. With a focus on fostering a positive and inclusive environment, we are looking forward to seeing our soccer school participants flourish both on and off the field. We can’t wait to kick off the new term and continue our passion for football!

Over the last few camps our MMSS attendance has been outstanding and the picture above is a testament to how popular it has been. As the weather gets a bit better and we get settled for the last term, we are hoping this translates to our term-time sessions.

You can get ahead of the curve and book using the button below:

Quote of the Week

Pelé

1279 Goals in 1363 Games, 3x FIFA World Cup Winner

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”