Colchester United Football in the Community’s delivery of the Premier League Primary Stars programme is in its third year of the current funding cycle of £70,000 per year.
This funding allows the Sport & Education Team to support Children, Teachers and Primary Schools locally in North East Essex, as part of this National Programme with projects designed to support the following areas of the National Curriculum:
- Physical Education & School Sport
- Numeracy
- Literacy
- PSHE
Colchester United Football in the Community have been delivering projects in each area of Primary Stars, designed to enrich the curriculum and offer alternative learning opportunities to schools, their staff and pupils.
Projects are designed and delivered aligned with Colchester United Football in the Community and Premier League Primary Stars values:
- Be ambitious – work hard and never give up on their goals
- Be inspiring – set a great example to others
- Be connected – work well with others and in a team
- Be fair – treat people equally and think of others
Physical Education & School Sport
Funding allows for Sport & Education Staff to work alongside Primary Teachers to share knowledge and enhance the quality of PE lessons in schools through a tailored programme. Over the last 3 years the programmes has supported 46 Teachers from 11 local Primary Schools with a further 25 Teachers from 7 Primary Schools scheduled to take part during the 2021/22 academic year.
Miss Green, the Year 6 Teacher @ Notley Green Primary School described her time taking part in the PE Support programme this year; “The children in 6T absolutely love the sessions with Coach Niamh. They look forward to it all week and the whole class stay focused and engaged for the entire lesson - and that's no mean feat with Year 6! From a Teacher’s perspective I've learnt how to organise the learning area better e.g. coaching zone, drinks zone and conflict zones. I've learnt many more games and activities to do with the pupils, lots of ways to challenge and extend the children’s learning, as well as ideas to combine different invasion sports which all use the same fundamental skills. All in all, fantastic lessons, delivered professionally!
“I found Colchester United Football in the Community a useful PE teaching opportunity for myself and I have come away with many top tips to use in my P.E lessons. The children really enjoyed working in a team and working on the key skills: manipulation, stabilisation and acceleration. The children made good progress!” It was fantastic to see how well Coach Niamh interacted with the children and adapted activities appropriately for their levels of learning.”
Nationally 90% of teachers who used the Premier League Primary Stars PE resources agree that the programme has increased their pupils’ enjoyment of sport and physical activity.
Throughout the year Premier League Primary Stars funding supports the delivery of School Sport Festivals in local areas targeting opportunities for males, females and children with disabilities though inclusive competition.
Numeracy
The Maths Stars programme has been created with Premier League Primary Stars funding to support children with academic attainment, confidence and progress within Key Stage 2 Numeracy using football and sport as a learning tool. 12 Numeracy projects have been delivered within 8 Primary Schools over the last 2 years, with a further 5 Numeracy projects already scheduled in 4 local Primary Schools this academic year.
Mrs Fawcett, The Headteacher @ St Andrew's C of E Primary School, Weeley shared her thoughts on why her school signed up for the programme: “We chose Maths Stars for the Year 3 class because we feel this will provide the group with a much needed confidence boost in Maths. They have missed such a lot of their schooling over the last 2 years and working with someone different from their local Professional Football Club will hopefully remind them how much fun maths can be, as well as close some of the gaps in their understanding using different learning tools!”
Maths Stars creates a platform to host collapsed curriculum events to support children’s development in Numeracy using Colchester United club resources. In 2019 prior to pandemic restrictions Sport & Education Staff hosted the club’s Annual Primary Stars Day at the Jobserve Community Stadium, where children from local schools were invited to complete their school day from the club’s home. Numeracy Lessons were held in the Club Shop challenging classes to create, manage and spend a budget for an event of their choice. Premier League Primary Stars Day is scheduled to return in 2022 with Numeracy lessons scheduled for children at the stadium once more!
Literacy
The same model has been implemented within Literacy using Premier League Primary Stars Funding to fund the Reading and Story Stars projects. Reading Stars allows for pupils to have a space to work in small groups or individually with Sport & Education Staff to develop confidence and learning within literacy such as; comprehension, reading, poetry and much more. Story Stars follows the same structure, providing children in Key Stages 1 & 2 with the opportunity and space to develop their story writing, storytelling, reading and understanding. 16 Literacy projects have been delivered within 11 Primary Schools over the last 2 years, with a further 11 Literacy projects being delivered in 5 local Primary Schools so far between September 2021-July 2022.
Michael, a Year 4 Pupil @ Shalford Primary School detailed his journey on the recent Reading Stars Programme that was delivered at his school ”I love Luke from Col U coming in to teach Reading Stars every week. I like reading different types of books now and the lessons have given me more confidence to try and learn harder words and read more difficult books to help develop my reading.”
Each year Premier League Primary Stars funding allows Colchester United Football in the Community with resources to deliver FREE books to Primary Schools within our local communities. This will continue on Thursday 3rd March 2022, so look out for lots of fun and giveaways.
PSHE
Premier League Primary stars funding allows for the delivery of targeted intervention programmes such a Self-Development Stars and Wellbeing Stars to support small groups and individuals within Primary Schools, targeting support with; self-esteem, confidence, conflict resolution and mental wellbeing. During the Covid-19 lockdowns Sport & Education Staff took to teaching lessons online with the delivery of 27 individual PSHE Programmes to children in the local area to support their home learning.
Tate a Year 3 pupil @ Plumberow Academy took part in a Self-Development Stars programme during the lockdown in 2021. Tate’s Father Jon shared “Tate thoroughly enjoyed the PSHE Self-Development Stars and it really brought Tate out of his shell due to the 1:1 nature Programme! Kieran was an excellent Teacher, putting Tate at ease and encouraging him to think beyond his comfort zone, but keeping it light and fun. I would thoroughly recommend the programme for additional learning and think it is a fantastic thing CUFITC offers to children in Primary School!”
90% of teachers nationally feel that the Premier League Primary Stars PSHE Programmes has increased their pupils’ demonstration of at least one key life value, with resilience, determination and self-esteem coming out top.
Premier League Primary Stars has been a valued tool to Primary Schools within our local community and national across the country.
We look forward to continuing the delivery of Primary Stars Programmes and working with the Premier League Charitable Foundation to make a positive impact on children, teacher and Primary Schools across North Essex.
For more information please CLICK HERE
If your school would like to engage within the funded Premier League Primary Stars projects to support and enrich your curriculum, please contact Luke.drysdale@colchesterunited.net / 01205 755 160