We were very pleased to award Watford Grammar School for Girls a PE award to purchase equipment for a range of new sports including water polo, tchoukball and stoolball.
Katie Holes, Director of Sport, made a very good case for introducing the new sports:
"During KS3 our students cover a range of more traditional sporting activities, as they move into KS4 we want to encourage continued participation but at aware that not all students are motivated by the sports previously covered. Each term we offer students a selection of different sports which they can opt into and follow for 6 weeks.
Having the equipment to cover a new range of alternative sports will enable students to try something different, which may engage them in participating in this sport further, both in and outside of school.
It will also be beneficial to those students who already participate in sport regularly. These activities will allow students to be challenged by learning to transfer the skills learnt in similar games into new ones. For example, stoolball is a combination of cricket and rounders, waterpolo is an invasion game but in a very different environment and tchoukball is also an invasion game but has very different rules to most others.”
We were very keen to support this bid as the novelty and excitement of the new sports will encourage more girls to participate fully in physical activity and the equipment should continue to provide benefits for many cohorts to come.