'Playing for Success on the Road' at Towcester Primary School

Anna Letts and Helena Weedon from Northants Study Centres' project team are working at the school every Tuesday of the Autumn term with Ravens and Wren classes, years 5 and 6. The aim is to take the work done in the Cobblers Study Centre into schools so more children have a chance to participate in sport based learning. They are using PfS style activities to raise literacy, numeracy and ICT levels as well as to improve confidence and self esteem. School HLTAs (higher level teaching assistants) Mrs Goodman and Mrs Johnson are supporting this project and are skill sharing in order to learn how to deliver the lessons in future. This way, study support skills and study centre initiative can become embedded within the school.

Northampton Town Football Club support PfS on the Road through the Cobblers Study Centre and have provided free tickets for an upcoming game.

So far children have taken part in ice breakers, 'brain-breaks' and 'getting to know you' activities. They played maths snap, using playing cards and mental adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplication skills. This proved very energetic and vocal, shouting out the answers. They worked in teams to construct paper towers or cricket bales and stumps. This encouraged good communication and co-operation.

Children worked together using Cobblers squad numbers to solve sums. This can be difficult as teams are quite large with 'too many cooks'! They got the hang of it in the end and their teamwork improved.

This week students worked on sports themed acrostic poems and chose a fantasy football team to the value of £50 million, made up of premiership players. They had to justify their choices as well as balance the books as a club manager.

The children so far have been very responsive and enjoyed themselves. Hopefully they will realise that learning is fun and that the skills they do in these lessons will help them in their normal school ones.

Ronnie said "I had great fun making my own team. You could get different players and make your own world."

Lachlan "This is cool, its lessons and fun at the same time."