Beckmead Moundwood Academy Opening Schools Facilities (OSF)
Sport and physical activity offer for pupils
Through the Department for Education Opening School Facilities (OSF) funding, Beckmead Moundwood Academy in Harlow have been able to deliver Boxing, Football and Gym sessions to their students. The funding has resulted in the school’s gym to be refurbished with state of the art equipment, new football goals and new boxing training equipment to enhance the after school clubs offer. The OSF funding has meant Beckmead have also been able to connect with locally trusted organisations to deliver these extracurricular sessions.
Beckmead Moundwood Academy is a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) located in Harlow. OSF funding has enabled the school to link up and form new relationships with local clubs and organisations who deliver the funded sessions. Over the past year, an external club have been delivering boxing sessions to help develop discipline, resilience and confidence amongst students whilst getting active.
Brentwood Town FC have been delivering the extra-curricular football sessions, that have not only created a pathway for continued engagement in the sport outside of term time, but also meant that Beckmead were also able to play their first football match against a local school to showcase the behaviour skills they learnt during the funded sessions. The newly refurbished gym, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, has been deemed an exciting space for students to use. By reconnecting with ex-students, the facility has enabled them to return and gain valuable experience by assisting in fitness sessions overseen by a qualified personal trainer. This initiative provides relatable role models for current students and helps ex-students develop further skills or find employment in the physical activity and sport sector.
The OSF funding that the school has received has highlighted the significant impact that physical activity can have on a young person’s behaviour. By hosting new and improved sporting activities, Beckmead has seen a vast improvement in attendance levels and social and behavioural skills amongst the students. Thanks to the increased connections with local organisations, pupils have been able to gain the confidence to attend sessions outside of school time.
Showing the impact physical activity has had on their pupils, Beckmead Moundwood Academy are aiming to fund their staff and ex-students in personal training coaching courses to increase the knowledge and teachings of the popular new gym. Through building relationships and highlighting the impact of that the OSF funding has had, Beckmead Moundwood Academy’s next step is to connect with local grass root football clubs by offering their football pitches out to hire and thus generating an income for the school. The school aspires to hire out the football pitches to a local club and explore extending their hours to increase community usage of their gym facilities. This would support new and upcoming personal trainers in the area who are looking for space to start building their client base.
Their new formed relationships with local clubs have resulted in students continuing their sporting engagement inside and outside of school times. With the Gym and Boxing sessions being very popular amongst students, the funding has enabled ex-students to return and gain coaching experiences to help their career pathways. OSF has enabled Beckmead Moundwood Academy to be more than a PRU, but an opportunity for collaboration with local clubs in providing positive sporting experiences and challenging the behaviours of their students.Tom Weller, Active Essex Assistant Relationship Manager
