Christ the King College in Carisbrooke have announced that they will be working in partnership with Southampton FC’s Saints Foundation to offer an exciting new education programme on the Isle of Wight from September 2017.
The Football and Education Programme enables students to complete a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport which is equivalent to 3 A Levels. This has been successfully delivered at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton since 2011.
From September this year, the programme will be extended to 4 new areas including the Isle of Wight (at Christ the King College), Fleet, Basingstoke and Salisbury. The programme will combine football and education to give aspiring young boys and girls the opportunities to strive towards a career in sport.
Whilst studying a BTEC level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport and training every week, students will improve their footballing skills, knowledge and tactical awareness along with receiving a first class education.
The practical element of the course is 6-8 hours a week, with training from an FA qualified coach who is a full time member of staff at Southampton Football Club. The coach will look to support and improve all aspects of the game in different ways; particularly through sessions that have an in-depth structure to make sure participants are learning new things every day.
All abilities will be catered for to ensure each student has a pathway to fulfil their own potential. A competitive fixture programme will also be included, with preparing for competitive games being part of the daily training. The additional opportunities for a Saints Foundation Scholar are vast and vary from stadium tours to games at the club’s Staplewood Training Campus. Scholars may also get the privileged opportunity to play at St Mary’s Stadium in the Satellite Cup Final, which will be hosted on the hallowed turf of the prestigious Premier League club.
During the 2 year programme, Chris the King College will offer all students work experience within the wider Saints Foundation programmes. This will give students an opportunity to improve their skills and gain invaluable football knowledge, as well as working with experienced professional coaches across a wide range of programmes.
Andrew Hunt, Education Satellite Co-ordinator said:
“This is a fantastic programme that offers the best options I’ve seen on these types of courses. I’m very excited to be involved in this and with the staff we have involved, the players and students will be learning from the best. I truly believe this is the perfect platform for students wanting to enhance themselves both on and off the pitch.”
Mark Gamble, Education Manager at Saints Foundation commented:
“From the success we’ve had over the last six years running a programme at the stadium, this has been the natural progression for us to be able to deal with the demand of applications. We are very proud of what we do and our passion is to continue to grow this in wider areas. We want more people to be aware of Saints Foundation and the fantastic work being done across all of our programmes. We already have students who have come through our programme to now work at the Foundation full time, and we want to add even more to this list.”
Pat Goodhead, Principal of Christ the King College added:
“This is a wonderful opportunity for the young people of the Isle of Wight. We are delighted to be working in partnership with such a professional organisation which, like Christ the King College, is passionate about securing as many opportunities as possible for young people to thrive and be successful in areas they enjoy. We are grateful that we were approached and are excited about what this could mean for our students and others across the Island.”
Students from across the Island in the current Year 11 cohort are welcome to apply for a place on the programme. To find out more head along to the Open Evening in the Christ the King College Sixth Form Hall on Wednesday 5th April 2017 at 19:30.
