Three Isle of Wight schools have been chosen to take part in the pilot of the Tennis Foundation’s new School of Tennis programme.
Medina College, Sandown Bay Academy and The Island Free School will all take part in the innovative new pilot programme and have recently joined 18 other schools at the first School of Tennis national training day, which took place in Loughborough yesterday (Wednesday).
Teachers, coaches and students from the 21 schools enjoyed a busy day of learning and on court activity to equip them with the skills and knowledge to roll out the School of Tennis Programme in their secondary school.
The programme, run by Britain’s leading tennis charity the Tennis Foundation, aims to radically change the way tennis is delivered in secondary schools to make it more relevant and engaging for teenagers. There is a sharp dip in tennis participation as young people reach their mid-teens and don’t realise the many varieties of tennis available away from the traditional game. The School of Tennis programme aims to reverse this decline by giving secondary schools the support and funding they need so they can deliver tennis in the form and way that best suits their school and their pupils.
As part of the Tennis Foundation’s education programme 21 pilot Schools of Tennis have been established across Great Britain this year with the aim to establish 150 Schools of Tennis across the country by 2018.
Schools have been clustered in threes in order to support, motivate and share best practice with one another. Each school is eligible to receive up to £5000 of support over for the pilot and will work across key themes of Teaching and Learning, Student Leadership, Facilities and Equipment and Community Links.
Jo Tuck, Head of PE at Medina College said:
“We’re very excited and privileged to be involved. We’ve learnt a lot today and have been inspired by a lot of the speakers and other staff. We’re very keen to get tennis reinstated in the curriculum and get the pupils involved in tennis clubs outside of school and this is a great way to do that.”
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Paul Williams, Schools Tennis Manager at the Tennis Foundation said:
“We’re delighted to be in Loughborough today to welcome coaches, teachers and students from our 21 Schools of Tennis. Today will officially ‘kick off’ the programme which is hugely exciting. We’re looking forward to supporting these schools so that they can make tennis more appealing to their particular students and subsequently enjoy all the physical and social benefits which tennis brings.”
The pilot programme, which will be evaluated by the Sports Industry Research Centre, will run from now until November ahead of a wider roll out in 2017.
