Friday September 15th 2023

Schools

Welcome Back

This is now our 13th academic year as a business and my 17th working in education. Proudly we have the largest team in our history,  16 Primary PE Specialists and 4 Apprentices working across over 30 primary schools in Lambeth, Croydon, Southwark, Westminster, Bromley and Lewisham.

This summer saw big changes in personnel and we have 8 new full time employees, 3 of whom are apprentices. After a fantastic training week (see below) this week was the first full one in schools, building new connections, re-establishing old ones, setting targets for the year and focusing on providing those positive active experiences with children to kick off the new year.

This term we have lots going on, which starts next Wednesday with National Fitness Day (see information below) and then our Year 3/4 Best team football competition at Black Prince Trust. Levi O’Neal Dawson is our new Competitions Manager and we’re hoping to build on the positive engagement from schools in the second half of last year. We see these experiences as hugely important for children in both connecting with sport but also with their schools. Nothing builds that pride quite like competiting for school!

Over the summer, we saw the Lionesses continue to impress by reaching a second major final, sadly not the result many of us wanted but never the less another inspiring example of the power of elite sport in increasing engagement from both girls and boys. With the Rugby World Cup in France this next couple of months, our focus in schools is on Tag-Rugby (personally my favourite curriculum area), as we hope to inspire the next Anthony Watson, Finn Russell or Jonny Sexton.

The new term sees the return of our Soccer School and with a new Director of Football in place, Stan Christoforou. We’ve had the pleasure of working with Stan for about 18 months now, supporting clubs and camps, so we’re delighted to have someone with his passion, expertise and enthusiasm, to drive it forwards. Our goals for this year, are to re-start our Girls programme, start an U8 team in the Tanbridge league and increase participation in our Wednesday and Saturday programmes. You can contact Stan for more information or simply book in.

Finally, after what was a frustrating summer due to the change in venue…WE ARE BACK AT THE ELMGREEEN. Our home for over 10 years now, we’ll be back there in October half term for a fun filled holiday camp and we have (upon request from parents) extended our opening times to 5.30pm and changed our refund policy. We will also continue to build our offer at Immanuel and St Andrew camp.

It’s great to be back and whether school or parent, we look forward to working with you in 2023-24.

Yours in sport

Dream team 2023-24!

– Rob Wilkinson

Director

Exceptional England

The summer of 2023 witnessed an inspiring journey for the England Women’s National Team in the Women’s World Cup, culminating in a hard-fought battle that saw them as runners-up to a formidable Spanish team.

Throughout the tournament, England’s women showcased remarkable talent and resilience, captivating fans worldwide with their electrifying performances. Their remarkable run to the final was a testament to their skill, teamwork, and dedication to the sport.

While they narrowly missed out on claiming the coveted title, their exceptional achievements served as a source of pride and inspiration, demonstrating that women’s football had truly come of age.

Congrats to the entire team but especially to Mary Earps, winning the Golden Glove at the tournament.

The England Women’s Team’s runner-up finish in the Women’s World Cup was a significant milestone in the evolution of women’s sports and a moment that will be celebrated and remembered for years to come.

Staff Training Day

Our academic year has always started off with whole team training and this year was no different. With so many new staff, it was important to get them up to speed on expectations and integrate them with some of our stalwarts!

The above picture is from our session with Aisha from Benchmark Gymnastics. The training was nothing short of inspiring, as she not only develop technical knowledge but her approach to learning, behaviour management and overall the standards we as coaches should be setting in schools. Our team now feel confident and equipped for Gymnastics teaching this term.

In addition to the Gymnastics we covered:

• Delivering Outstanding PE?

• Creating positive first impressions

• Planning and preparing effectively

• Target setting 2023-24

• Behaviour Management

as well as some specific workshops for Apprentices and our team delivering Professional Development.

Rugby World Cup

Last Saturday England’s Rugby team put in a great performance against Argentina, scoring a 27-10 victory in their first game of Pool D.

This Sunday, the Red and Whites will face Japan, with the match kicking off in the evening. Elliot Daly, who plays centre for England, knows full well how dangerous it can be to play fast and loose against Japan having been part of what became known as the ‘black hole game’ in 2018.

“I’ve had some tough games against Japan,” Daly said. “There was one at Twickenham when it was very tight at half-time [2018]. They like to throw the ball around which is always testing of any defence. That’s why you’ve got to be physical against them.”

You can click the video below to check out the highlights from last weekend’s game, in the build-up to this weekend’s one:

Inter-School Competitions

Autumn Competitions

Last year our Competitions programme saw an attendance of over 130 entries to comps throughout the year.

Based on the bookings we’ve had so far, we we’re going to smash that number this year.

We’ve slightly altered our competitions delivery by releasing bookings on a termly basis for quality control purposes.

However, our Autumn competitions are as follows:

Year 3 & 4 Football

September 21st 2023

@ Black Prince Trust, SE11 6AA

16/24 Places Booked

Year 5 & 6 Tag Rugby

October 5th 2023

@ Tooting Bec Athletics Track, SW17 8AR

12/20 Places Booked

Year 4 – 6 Girls Football

November 9th 2023

@ Black Prince Trust, SE11 6AA

20/24 Places Booked

Year 6 Swimming Gala

November 23rd 2023

@ Streatham Leisure Centre, SW16 6HX

12/18 Places Booked

National Fitness Day

Wednesday 20th September 2023

In a world where sedentary lifestyles and health issues are on the rise, this annual event serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of physical activity. It encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to embrace exercise.

National Fitness Day at Moving Matters is a day where we have an annual session with our member school students participating in a period of physical activity. In 2021 we hosted a live session workout for over 15 minutes which you can view below:

Next Wednesday, the Moving Matters team will be live posting our sessions and using the #NationalFitnessDay hashtag so check us out on Twitter.

PE Curriculum Access

Our Online PE Curriculum is accessible for our member schools’ staff, to provide hundreds of resources to enhance their delivery of PE lessons. These include schemes of work, videos, assessment criteria, skills maps and visual aids. If you do need access, feel free to click the button below and we will get your login sorted for you and your staff:

Parents

THE ELMGREEN IS BACK

Upcoming Autumn Holiday Camps

Last year our total attendance count for all of our Holiday Camps was over 2800, perfectly on track for us to meet our target of working with 20,000 children by 2026.

We begin our Holiday Camp programme of the 2023/24 academic year with our Autumn camps. With us going back to The Elmgreen and returning to Immanuel & St Andrew next month:

Early Bird Offer – Save 10% Until 8th October – Code: EARLY10

Sibling Discount – Save 10% on multiple family bookings using code: FAM10

Our Holiday Camp Locations

Elmcourt Rd, Norwood, London SE27 9BZ

Immanuel & St Andrew School, Northanger Road, Streatham SW16 5SL

Moving Matters Soccer School

Last week we ushered in a new era at Moving Matters Soccer School and we are hoping to continue our strong start for the remainder of the Autumn term. Bookings are live using the button below:

Elite Programme (Years 5 – 8)

Wednesday 17:30 – 19:00

If you are interested in a trial for our Elite programme, contact: stanmovingmatters@gmail.com

Super Saturdays (Reception and up)

Saturday 10:30 – 12:00

A perfect way to start your child’s weekend with a fun football session

Quote of the Week

Venus Williams

4x Olympic Gold Medalist,

Only Player In Open Era To Win Singles, Doubles & Mixed Olympic Medals

“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.”