20 November 2020

In a year of uncertainty and mayhem we feel activity and exercise is now, more important than ever. As adults, we may have recognised that during the numerous lockdowns, we have become more sedentary and as a result of this been more proactive about our personal fitness, going for a run or turning the garage into a gym. Children however, are a lot harder to motivate, especially when they are sat in their favourite chair. At Sporting Influence we realised this and have since decided that it is time to change that. Our Holiday Childcare Activity Camps give children the perfect place to be active, social and have fun when school is closed and the day to day routine changes slightly. However, we also understand that these are not always accessible to everyone for a number of reasons. In light of this, we started to look at how we can make our provision more accessible for all, as our aim as a business, does and always will, put the children first. We rolled out our initiative during October Half Term, offering free places to a school. The school then identifies children who they think will benefit from a few days/a week of activity at our camps. This initiative means that children who wouldn't normally access our camps are able to do so free of charge and hopefully continue their activity throughout the holiday period. The initiative started as a real success, with 5% of our places at October Half Term were offered free of charge. We cannot wait to continue this venture and we look to increase our free places at our camps, bringing activity and active lifestyles to the children of Harrogate and surrounding areas.

19 November 2020

Since the start of the year we have been delivering low risk Multi-Skills Festivals across schools within our Boroughbridge Cluster. With the current restrictions in place, the format has changed slightly this year and instead of schools coming together to take part, Mr Whitford and Mr Crooks have been going to each individual school where every child has been taking part. Children have worked in small groups within their year group to complete six different running, throwing and jumping challenges and there has been lots of determination and encouragement on show. Scores have been recorded and a leaderboard created to allow that element of competition against the other schools. So far Kirk Hammerton, Boroughbridge and Staveley have taken part, and we are looking forward to visiting St Peter's Brafferton and Nun Monkton in the coming weeks.

23 July 2020

What an amazing first week. First of all, thank you to all parents, carers & children for working with us this week. Our camp set up has been completely flip turned and you have all been so patient and understanding. We have had an amazing week of activity, sport & fun. It has been very different to what you would normally see at a Sporting Influence camp, but the options, choice and fun have all been obvious to see! We can only hope every other week is as exciting as this! We are fully booked for the next 2 weeks, if you want to book for later in the summer, we can only advise to book early before the spaces are gone! Click below to book! Book Here

20 May 2020

UPDATE: COVID-19 School Provision As I’m sure you will be aware, the latest Government plan for Education, is for schools to begin a phased opening for certain age groups from the 1st June with strict social distancing measures. At the time of writing there is much uncertainty in how this will happen but we are confident as a sports provider that we are in the best position to support the schools if we are needed. Since lockdown began Sporting Influence have continued their work in a number of our schools delivering PE and active lessons for vulnerable & key worker children. These education hubs are vital in allowing key worker parents to continue their valuable work whilst ensuring their children and safe. Although there have been many challenges, for our team and everyone concerned with the schools during this time, we feel that we are well placed in understanding how the needs of the children and how best to try and social distance in PE lessons. We have also supported children not going into schools with free on-line resources delivered by Mr Doey daily and now weekly to help keep children active and motivated. Through our thorough risk assessments, Government guidelines and advice on social distancing we aim to reduce risk of our PE lessons to a minimum whilst ensuring they are fun and energetic, something which is we feel is vitally important at this time. Childcare Activity Camps at Harrogate Ladies' College As you will appreciate this side of our business closed over Easter and we have decided to stay closed at May Half Term also. The team will be meeting as a group to discuss our work and experiences in schools and this will help us to plan what we feel could be a much needed summer camp and an alternative for both parents and children. "...we have decided to stay closed at May Half Term". Once we have confirmation about our Summer Childcare Activity Camps then we will be in touch with further details of what camp will look like and the changes we will implement. Thank you very much for your support and understanding at the current time and we hope to see some of your children in schools and at Camp in the Summer. All the best,  Dave Moss

13 March 2020

 I am writing to update you on the development of Sporting Influence's response to the Coronavirus outbreak, following yesterday's UK government meetings and latest Public Health England (PHE) advice which you may find helpful. Our team of qualified teachers are meeting daily to review the latest government guidance and co-ordinate our plan as a company. Our discussions cover both our work and partnerships with local Primary and Secondary Schools and our Easter Camps at Harrogate Ladies' College. Our approach remains in line with advice and guidance from the relevant health authorities, in particular the NHS – specifically Public Health England (PHE). The government’s focus has moved to the second phase of ‘Delay’ and in addition to the continued advice for regular and thorough hand-washing, it has now included a requirement for anyone with a new, continuous cough or temperature, however mild the symptoms, to self-isolate for seven days. At this stage we are planning for a fun and active Easter Camp and parents have been booking online as usual.If the facilities are closed down due to guidance from the Government then a credit or full refund will be given to parents. The Sporting Influence action plan will now and for the foreseeable future prioritise health and safety in our lessons, afterschool clubs, competitions and holiday camps.Activities and sessions will be planned to have less physical contact where possible but still a clear emphasis on fun and learning.We will introduce hand washing at the end of each session because PE and sport sessions will naturally create more interaction for children than some other more structured lessons in school. May we ask families to follow government advice if they visit any country named on the government website as a concern, or if any family member does so.   Official travel advice to and from the UK is being regularly updated.  As we move closer to our Easter Camp week we may require all families that have booked on to camp to self-declare if they have been in an area of particularly high risk – more information will follow about this at the end of this month. We are working alongside Harrogate Ladies' College in particular and taking additional steps to support the health and wellbeing of the children and our team of teachers and coaches primarily through extra cleaning and widespread provision of hand sanitisers. Should there be any developments that affect the running of Camp we will be in touch with parents. Finally, thanks for all for your support and cooperation in helping to keep the schools a calm and kind place for students and staff alike. All the best,Dave Moss

12 March 2020

Wednesday Evening Competitions are back and this half term it is DODGEBALL. After Week 1, where the children learned the basic skills needed for dodgeball, last night the children went straight into matches to compete for the mantel of Dodgeball Champions. Some great skills on show, highlighting the importance of tactics and the way that the children defend and attack with and without the ball were real highlights. Onto next week for more ducking, dodging, dipping, diving & dodging.

12 March 2020

Over the last three weeks at Boroughbridge Primary School, Mr Crooks has been focusing on orienteering with Year 3, 4 and 5. The focus of this unit has been on team work, including the qualities of a good team member and how they work together. Each lesson has consisted of team building activities, as well as map reading where students have had the opportunity to explore the school grounds. To conclude this unit, each student successfully demonstrated key map reading skills as well as working together to collect all of the letters under numbered stones. The letters spelt out "congratulations", which is suitable as the students did an outstanding job throughout this block of work. 

12 March 2020

At Sporting Influence we love any sort of sporting challenge or sports activity. When Sports Relief comes around we love to make a statement and help out where we can in our schools. We will be partaking in a variety of events throughout the week in our schools including: Run a milePing-pong-athonNon - uniform day What are you doing? Let us know!

27 February 2020

KS1 Multi Skills Festival On Wednesday morning Western & Rossett Acre schools came together to compete in a KS1 Multi skills Festival at Rossett High School. The morning was fantastic with all the children representing their schools positively. The behaviour was top class, all children respecting each other, adults and the young leaders. Both schools competed at five different stations: Cross the RiverBlowing out the CandlesBeanbag ThrowFrying pan & eggSpeed Bounce The morning was finished off with some competitive races and all children encouraging and supporting each other. Dance Festival On Friday, five schools will be attending a Dance Festival at Great Ouseburn Village Hall. KirkhammertonStaveleyBoroughbridgeGreat OuseburnNun Monkton Children will be performing a dance in their classes and competing against other schools. They will be judged on their: unisonformationmusicalitystylepersonality Come back next week to find out how it went!

25 February 2020

Fun fact - March 2020 has 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays & 5 Tuesdays!!! Sunday, March 8 - Daylight Saving begins - clocks go forward 1 hour!Sunday, March 8 - International Women’s Day - highlighting the achievements of women all around the world and the struggles that women continue to go through all around the world. Tuesday, March 17 - St Patrick's Day - Drink responsibly and hopefully find your 4 leaf clover!Thursday, March 19 - Spring Equinox - marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. On this day, the Sun is located directly over Earth’s equator.March 30-April 17 - Easter Holiday Activity Camp - Sporting Influence Easter Activity Camp held at Harrogate Ladies College - BOOK HERE.

30 January 2020

Ok, confession number 1 - they aren't real horses! The common theme during this half term is, the weather is awful so let's do gymnastics. We are currently teaching a lot of gymnastics in our schools. Developing core strength, exploring different shapes, travel, flight and rolls. We are also with older children looking at vaulting on and vaulting through. Vaulting, is the action of jumping onto our over a vault. As the average primary schools don't have vaults we have to adapt and use either a gymnastics horse, or gymnastics table. Starting the unit, children work work on placing their hands down and lifting their legs from their core over a small object. From this the height in which children should raise their legs, will increase. After develop confidence through this the children will then vault onto their knees onto a object, starting small, the object will get progressively higher. The final process will involve children being able to vault over and onto an object safely and confidently.

30 January 2020

As part of his role at Sporting Influence, Mr Atkinson has the duty of supervising and developing student placements. As part of this role Mr Atkinson has been working closely with Leeds Trinity University to give young and enthusiastic students, brilliant experience of our profession, teaching and sport! Mr Atkinson has already been to Leeds Trinity, alongside Mr Moss, to deliver a lecture to students about exactly what we do and what is needed to step into the world of teaching. Both Mr Moss & Mr Atkinson have numerous years of secondary school PE teaching and they wanted to pass on some tips for making sure you are prepared for the big bad world on education! Mr Atkinson has today (Friday 31st Jan) also been to Leeds Trinity University to attend a networking careers fair. Students can approach professionals and dig a little more into their experiences to give themselves the best start! We look forward to continuing this bright and effective partnership with Leeds Trinity University.

23 January 2020

Another show of brilliant skill, behaviour and attitude on Wednesday Evening as five schools took to our Tchoukball Competition. A short technical at the beginning of the session, looking at shooting from an angle and how that can aid the attacking team, soon turned into competitive matches. The passing, switch play and communication was brilliant from all teams. The deciding factor between winning and losing was generally understand where the ball was going to rebound, after hitting the net. The children are getting better week by week. We can't wait for next week! Well done to all.

23 January 2020

Katie White, one of Sporting Influence's ambassadors, has been working alongside Sir David Attenborough to produce a new film - A Life On Our Planet. Katie, Executive Director of the World Wildlife Fund, has co-produced this film looking into the differences that people can make to their lives, that will have a greater impact in the years to come. Sir David Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Now, for the first time he reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime as a naturalist and the devastating changes he has seen. Produced by WWF and award-winning wildlife film-makers Silverback Films, David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet is a first-hand account of humanity’s impact on nature and a message of hope for future generations. Take a look at the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbUNXyOQr40

22 January 2020

On Monday we hosted a KS1 Multi-Skills Festival at Great Ouseburn Village hall. Over 130 children took part from Boroughbridge, Great Ouseburn, Nun Monkton, Kirk hammerton and Staveley Primary Schools. It was the first time we had used the venue and it was a fantastic space for us and the children to use. Children took part in 13 different activity stations from Target Throw to Speed Bounce, and Agility Ladders to the Bucket Challenge. Teams competed against each other by scoring points at each station, with results shared at the end. There was great use of Sporting Influence's 5 social skills throughout, with those children using them, consistently rewarded with a wristband at the end of the festival.  We look forward to hosting our next festival, KS1 and KS2 Dance, at Great Ouseburn Village hall.