Year 7 and Year 8 students are now fully embracing the extended Sports Academy opportunities on offer at Woodham Academy. Since the start of term, participation has been consistently high for the following extra-curricular clubs; Mountain Biking, Dance, Gymnastics, Trampolining, Netball, Football, Basketball, Girls Active, Boxing and Rugby. Activities run across lunchtimes and after-school and are delivered by PE staff.
Year 9 BTEC Sport students have also particularly enjoyed improving their Volleyball and Badminton skills and tactics previously learned in their practical lessons.
Students have expressed their enjoyment at now being able to receive specialised coaching in a wider range of sports, which they had previously missed out on during the periods of national lockdown earlier in the academic year. Nicole Anderson in Year 7 says “I love the fact that all of the extra-curricular clubs are back on. It allows you to make friends and use all of the different facilities on offer in the PE Department. The activities are fun to join in and for me, the Mountain Bike Academy links closely with my elite sport of Cycling, outside of school.” Amelia Hawkins commented “The staff are always so welcoming and it doesn’t matter what ability you are, everything is well thought out and planned for a wide range of abilities.” Jackson Raitt, who participates in at least five different Sports Academy clubs across the week says he particularly enjoys the Boxing Academy as he acknowledges, “I play a lot of football, so it’s great that there are a wide range of choices available and I’ve been able to try something completely new.”
Due to Covid restrictions on year group bubbles, this year attendance to all clubs has been trialled using invites via the SIMS Student App. Students across all year groups can access the Sports Academy clubs on a rolling weekly basis by accepting an invite to any clubs that they wish to attend during their allocated week. This system has worked very successfully and has allowed for close monitoring of attendance to all clubs.
