Among those in attendance at the co-hosted Active Humber and Active Withernsea Autumn Conference were local representatives from the NHS, Street Games, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council and various health and well-being teams, plus national representatives from the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England.

Joining the conference to speak about the continuing success of the ‘Active Withernsea High School’ partnership were Mark Crofts, Headteacher, and Nick Richmond, Hybrid PE Teacher, whose bespoke liaison role bridges the gap between sport at the school and sport in the wider community.  

Comprising two days per week teaching PE and Sport as part of the curriculum, the remaining three days of Nick’s time are spent working on behalf of Active Withernsea (two days per week) with a further day assigned for primary school liaison work as the area’s School Sports Coordinator.

Reflecting on the impact of the recent conference, Nick said: “The idea behind the conference was to discuss, promote, evaluate and reflect upon the successes of place-based working. It was great to share with attendees, including local and national partners, the work that has been happening over the past year in Withernsea. This provided them with a real-life example of the strengths and benefits of the type of place-based working that Sport England hopes to roll out further around the country.

By sharing our progress, including the challenges we’ve faced and the many successes that have been achieved, we hope to inspire other communities. We were delighted to receive a great deal of positive feedback from attendees who found our work inspiring.”  

Mark Crofts, Headteacher of Withernsea High School, added: “It was a pleasure to be able to share our story with professionals from organisations around the county, and to see the interest it generated – especially from those who work outside of school settings. .

We’ve got a really interesting story to tell about how place-based working can impact immediately on current students, whilst also being something we can build upon for the future. The hybrid PE teacher role is something quite unique and is proving to be incredibly powerful in that it’s utilising the potential of three organisations, the school, Active Withernsea and the School Sports Partnership, to bring together different ideas for the benefit of the school and its wider community.

This type of collaborative place-based working is something we will definitely continue to pursue - not just in this context, but within others as well.”

Kristina Richardson added: “Our work with Withernsea High School has very much been the start of further exciting projects as Active Withernsea continues to work in partnership with the high school, local primary schools, the community and wider partner organisations, to bring sporting opportunities to South East Holderness. We continue to work on a wide range of project areas within Withernsea and the surrounding area and we are incredibly lucky to have already built strong working relationships throughout the community.”

Highlights from the partnership to date include the refurbishment of the school’s fitness suite and the successful launch of a popular running club. Additionally, a fruitful partnership with East Riding Leisure Withernsea resulted in the launch of the Girls’ Carousel – a weekly opportunity for selected students to try new and different sporting activities with the aim of boosting confidence and engagement.

Commenting on the impact of this initiative, Withernsea High School student Abigail Cass said: “Last year I got chosen by my Head of Year to take part in the Girls’ Carousel. After I did this, my confidence really improved. I especially enjoyed the badminton and the opportunity to use the leisure centre sports hall. Before I participated in the carousel, I didn't have a lot of confidence when trying new things and I was nervous because I have never been selected before to do activities outside of school.”

The positive impact of this engagement with the Girls’ Carousel has led to Abigail, and carousel classmate Katie Mackenzie-Hastings, being appointed as Active Humber Ambassadors to help promote similar opportunities in the wider area.

Reflecting on this responsibility, Abigail said: “When I was selected to be an ambassador, I felt really proud and excited as I like being active and I would really like to help others feel more confident in doing physical activity.”. While Katie added: “This opportunity has made me feel proud of myself and special because I was selected as someone that could be a role model for my peers and hopefully inspire them to also get active.”

The Active Humber ambassadors are the latest student representatives to be recruited to help embed the work of Active Withernsea. Such roles, secured through either election or application, support a variety of initiatives with ambassadors often taking a leading role in organising events, while representing their peers as a voice for the student body as a whole.

Helping to reinforce the link between the school and the community are a team of dedicated Sports Ambassadors. These students provide assistance at both primary engagement and school sporting events and are the first point of contact for other students to register their ideas and suggestions.

Similarly, to help further the school’s mission to promote the benefits of walking, cycling or wheeling to school, a group of ten dedicated Active Travel ambassadors have assumed the responsibility of promoting Active Travel.

Meanwhile, a team of Youth Health Champions are continuing to help promote mental health and physical well-being through a series of different interventions. In doing so, they have each completed a course to secure an additional qualification.

Mark Crofts said: “We are excited by the desire our students are showing to get involved, but also by their willingness to lead. With the help of Active Withernsea and Active Humber, we are pleased to offer an increasing array of sporting opportunities and associated support to our students. We look forward to further collaborative working in the months and years ahead.”

Under the umbrella of Active Humber, one of 43 Active Partnerships across England who use the power of sport and physical activity to transform lives, Active Withernsea is currently among twelve local delivery pilot schemes that are in place to test innovative approaches that could be rolled out nationally to help increase activity levels in communities around the country.

Funded by Sport England, with the aim of making active lifestyles the social norm for everyone, the Active Partnerships help people of all ages and backgrounds to improve their health and well-being by taking part in regular physical activity and sport.

ABOVE: Nick Richmond (Hybrid PE Teacher) and Mark Crofts (Headteacher) shared the successes of the partnership between Active Withernsea and Withernsea High School. [Photo Credit: Active Humber]

ABOVE: Abigail Cass (left) and Katie Mackenzie-Hastings have been appointed as ambassadors for Active Humber to help promote sporting opportunities in the wider area. [Photo Credit: Withernsea High School]