Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to explain how the PE sports fixtures work within our school and to keep you informed about our approach to inclusivity and participation.
At Coleham, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive school, fostering an environment where every child has the opportunity to take part in various sporting events. Unlike having traditional, fixed, school teams, we aim to give all children a chance to participate in different sports throughout the year.
We actively book our school onto a variety of events across the year: both competitive competitions and enjoyable festivals. When selecting participants for these events, we consider each child’s performance in PE classes and identify specific skills in which they excel. It may be that some children are selected more than others. This is fair because some children show particular aptitude for sport and need to be able to shine. That said, it would not be fair to exclude those that show less aptitude, but have enthusiasm and ambition.
Therefore, we run a hybrid system whereby everyone has the opportunity to take part, but those with particular aptitude may be selected more often. It is important to note that regular attendance to sporting clubs inside or outside of school does not increase anybody’s chances of being selected.
Because it is clear that there are many enthusiastic children at Coleham who want to represent the school in sporting events, we facilitate that by tracking each fixture and the children involved. This allows us to monitor all events and make sure that as many children as possible are selected and, if not selected, please be assured that their time will come. During their time in Year 6, every child is guaranteed at least one, if not more, fixtures. We actively engage in events for younger years, where we select participants based on their particular talents for competitive events and their consistent efforts and enthusiasm for festivals. Furthermore, to ensure that we cater for our large numbers of pupils we organise specialist coaching sessions that run in school time for year groups such as Cricket and Tennis. With the 2024 Olympics approaching, we are planning our own festival and hosting exciting visitors that everyone can benefit from.
At Coleham, we believe that sport is for everyone, and our aim is to provide a balanced and fair opportunity for every child to engage in sports activities, and I appreciate your understanding and support in this matter.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
Thank you for your cooperation and ongoing support.
Many thanks,
Miss C Lewis
Year 4 Teacher & PE Co-ordinator