The Pool Academy teenagers now running primary school sports days

Watch a primary school sports day in the Camborne and Redruth area this year and there’s a fair chance the whistle, the stopwatch or the relay baton is in the hands of a teenager rather than a teacher. A group of Year 9 students has spent the year training as Sports Leaders, and the results have been turning up on playing fields across west Cornwall.

A year of training that led somewhere

Twenty-three students from Pool Academy completed training through the Time2Lead Programme and The Young Ambassador scheme, building their leadership skills through a mix of training sessions, lessons and, crucially, hands-on experience. Rather than staying in the classroom, the group put what they learned into practice in front of real crowds of primary-age children.

The school sits in Pool, between Camborne and Redruth, and the students didn’t have to travel far to find an audience. Younger pupils across the area have spent the year being coached, refereed and encouraged by faces only a few years older than their own.

Taking the lead across Crofty’s primary schools

Throughout the year, the Sports Leaders have supported a range of sports tournaments for Crofty Education Trust primary schools, as well as helping to run sports days at Portreath and Treloweth. That meant planning activities, keeping score, managing groups of excitable children and generally being the calm, confident presence a sports day needs to actually run on time.

The festival that brought all 18 schools together

The programme reached its highlight when the students planned and hosted a Sports Festival for pupils from all 18 Crofty primary schools, creating an enjoyable experience for the younger children who took part. Pulling off an event on that scale, for that many schools, was as much a test of organisation as it was of sport, and one the students had spent the year building towards.

“Fantastic ambassadors”

Nick Ward, Principal at Pool Academy, said the Sports Leaders had made a real contribution to events throughout the year.

“Our Sports Leaders have been fantastic ambassadors for Pool Academy, taking on new responsibilities and making a real contribution to events throughout the year,” he said.

“It has been brilliant to see them grow in confidence and embrace the opportunity to plan and run activities for local primary schools. We are very proud of the way they have represented the school and the memorable experiences they have created for younger children.”

For the 23 students involved, the whistle doesn’t stop for summer. The next generation of Crofty pupils is already waiting for its own sports day.