Tuesday 19 July 2016 Head teacher Chris Florey set the bar high when he joined Seacroft Grange Primary School this year, with an ‘84 experiences’ pledge to enhance the learning of all his pupils. Taking all 200 pupils off site for sports day was just one of the extra experiences that Chris is introducing throughout the school – twelve special events in each of the seven years of primary school. Each pupil enjoys a whole class and a whole school experience each half term, such as author and theatre company visits, and days out to the seaside and a wildlife park. The sports day with a difference was held at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL), giving the children the opportunity to try field events such as discus, javelin and long jump, and sprint and distance races on the track. Medals were awarded both for winning performances and for effort. Chris said: “The 84 experiences pledge offers children experiences they wouldn’t get on a day-to-day basis. It’s about exposing them to a range of things in and out of school, going beyond the core curriculum to bring out their different skills and help them to put into context situations they may face later in life.” The sports day activities were organised by Matthew Phillips, Year 6 teacher and PE coordinator. He said: “The whole feeling of throwing a discus in the cage, jumping in the sand pit and using a proper running track makes the children feel like real athletes. GSAL made the experience accessible to us by providing the field and the medals.” The sports day was facilitated by Ellen Moss, a governor at Seacroft Grange and a teacher at GSAL Junior School. The event rounded off a successful year for Seacroft Grange which achieved a ‘Good’ Ofsted report last month. GSAL offers a programme of high quality cross-curricular activities for primary schools from across Leeds, West and North Yorkshire throughout the school year, including a maths challenge, poetry slam, French day and forensic science workshops. For more information and to get your school involved contact Lee-ann Humphries lee-ann.humphries@gsal.org.uk Photo: Seacroft Grange Reception class warm up for their discus event during Sports Day at The Grammar School at Leeds General
