25th November 2022
Little Common PE lead Katie Chapman recieves the Achive School of the Year award, presented by Active Sussex trustee Matt Francis and photographed with BBC Sussex presenter and award host Tim Durrans. Picture by snapitnow.co.uk
“We believe there should be no barriers to pupils being active” says Active School of the Year award winner
A Bexhill primary school has won Active School of the Year in this year’s Sussex Sports Awards.
Little Common School in Shepherds Close, Bexhill, won the award organised by Active Sussex at the event held at Sussex County Cricket Ground in Hove on Thursday (November 24).
The primary school has achieved School Games Platinum and its third Quality Start Premium Plus award, with validators describing PE at Little Common as ‘exemplary’.
As an active and healthy school, the school took part in the ‘Creating Active Schools’ pilot and achieved the East Sussex Healthy Schools Award with Excellence – the first school in the South of England to achieve this.
At the school, 96 percent of pupils attend an extracurricular club, 100 percent of vulnerable groups attend a club and 100 percent of pupils take part in competitions.
On receiving her award, PE lead Katie Chapman said:
“Every year I drive for 100 per cent of pupils to be active.
“As we track all 620 pupils – and it is no mean feat and is quite tricky – it allows us to make sure we provide activity and challenges and target those inactive children and this year I will get all 100 percent.”
She went on to say:
“It feels absolutely amazing to win this year because the other schools were fantastic in terms of what they deliver in terms of PE and sport within their schools.
“We do what we do to promote activity for pupils in our school, for families, and for the community.
“Getting children active and creating activities for them so that they find a sport they love is really important to us at Little Common.
“We believe there should be no barriers to pupils being active.”
This year 270 families took part in the school’s Get Active challenge, 120 families joined the Jubilee Jaunt and they ‘rowed’ twice around GB (over 6,000km) with their active miles.
The school sends out an ‘Our Get Active’ newsletter, which provides opportunities to share ways to keep active and healthy.
It has also managed to increase its active travel by 16 per cent and, as a result of parental engagement, shared its good practice at ‘Governor for Schools’ training and the Active Sussex PE advisory group.
Play leaders at the school ensure all pupils are active for 45 mins.
Its sensory circuits and Thrive active clubs support vulnerable pupils to access learning and the school day, providing a positive experience, improving their attendance and attainment.
To read about the other Sussex Sports Awards winners, visit www.activesussex.org/winners-revealed-at-sussex-sports-awards-2022/
