Thetford Academy on Norfolk-Suffolk border sees £15k investment to develop range of sporting activities

Students will soon have more opportunities to be physically active outside of PE lessons thanks to a £15,000 award to create more fitness activities.

The funding for Thetford Academy has been secured by Active Norfolk, which will work with the school to transform an existing area of the its site for students to take part in additional recreational activities, such as outdoor table tennis, increased football provision and creative fitness workouts.

The money is from the Department for Education's Opening Schools Facilities (OSF) funding programme, which sets out to provide support for schools to help increase facility use outside of curriculum time.

Michael Fordham, head of school at Thetford Academy, which is part of the Inspiration Trust, said: "The benefits of participation in sports to physical and mental health are well known and so I am delighted that we will be able to develop the range of activities students can do.”

Danny Burton, PE teacher at Thetford Academy, said: "As a school, we are really keen to use this opportunity to target some of our most inactive young people with the aim of raising their confidence inside and outside of school, resulting in them becoming happier, healthier young people.”

Graeme Richardson, head of PE, said: "This funding allows us to be able to offer more opportunities to be physically active outside of PE lessons.

"It also gives our amazing prefects an opportunity to add to their leadership skills, acting as good role models and interacting with other young students in the school.”

As part of the programme, 'inclusive and innovative' projects will also be delivered throughout the next year, with the goal of increasing student participation.

This includes student-led work which the academy’s prefects will be trained to deliver, supporting their peers to develop their self-confidence.

Active Norfolk will be working closely with Thetford Academy PE staff, offering additional support, expertise and monitoring of how the projects are going throughout the next two academic years.

Simon Hamilton, interim director at Active Norfolk, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to work more collaboratively with schools across the county.

"This two-year funding commitment is unprecedented and offers a fantastic opportunity to make a real impact to young people’s experiences of physical activity.

"Thetford Academy’s project is a great example of how physical activity can improve experiences for pupils across schools in Norfolk, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to deliver impactful physical activity programmes in the area for both pupils and the community.”

Thetford Academy is a secondary school and sixth form in Thetford.