A DERBY secondary school says more pupils than ever before are taking part in physical activities after it started to introduce a range of alternative sports.
Murray Park Community School, in Mickleover, is still offering the traditional cross country, netball and football sessions as part of PE lessons but has widened its offering to encourage children who are not interested in mainstream sport.
Among the new activities on offer to pupils is boccia and new-age kurling, which is a winter paralympic sport and has been taken up by children with special educational needs at the school.
A Murray Park team recently beat off competition from other city schools at a boccia and new-age kurling festival and are through to the county finals.
They are not the only team at the school to see success. A year seven benchball team was undefeated at a tournament run by Derby County Community Trust, winning every match against Derby Moor Academy, Derby Cathedral School, Alvaston Moor Academy and The Bemrose School.
School sports coordinator Rachel Hollins is responsible for promoting sports as a healthy activity for all students at the school.
She said: “Not every pupil enjoys traditional PE but as a school we recognise that the benefits of sport – for mental and physical health – are so important that we should be encouraging every child to find an activity that they do enjoy.
“Opening up opportunities for our children to try new sports has meant that some children are experiencing sporting achievements, perhaps for the first time in their school life. We can’t underestimate the importance of that, for confidence building, health and the subsequent impact that has on their classroom-based academic learning.”
Members of an after-school badminton club have made it through to the county finals, keystage three to be staged on February 14 and keystage 4 on March 2. To build on this success the school is offering subsidised classes with former Olympic champion in the sport, Donna Kellogg on a Saturday morning.
Students have also been able to try their hand at padel, a combination of indoor tennis and squash, and the school has purchased 17 mountain bikes to continue its work with Cycle Derby.
Murray Park pupils also work with Derbyshire Cricket Club which provides a weekly after-school club, while Derbyshire Dragons provide self-defence classes.
Derbyshire Cricket have provided a four week after school girls cricket session while, Derbyshire Dragons provide Murray Park students with self defence sessions.
In common with other schools, the girls’ football team has also become popular since the success of women’s football nationally.
The school is also one of only a handful to offer students the opportunity to take a Sports Leaders Level 1 Award, a nationally recognised qualification that enables successful learners to assist in leading sport under direct supervision.
Staff have also had to jump some logistical hurdles in order to realise their vision, such as developing new facilities and sourcing funding for equipment and activities.
Mrs Hollins added: “Many of the alternative sports we offer are fast-paced and staged indoors, which can be an incentive for some pupils to get involved.
“By taking children to places like the velodrome and allowing them to experience a bigger range of sport means that more students are becoming engaged in a physical activity post-Covid, and with Government recommendations around PE becoming a core subject, this can only be a good thing.”
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