Our School Services team formed a partnership with Weeton Primary School, an army camp based school, shortly after we formed and it has continued to develop ever since.
Our School Services programme attend the school every day of term to deliver extra-curricular sessions, such as lunch and after school clubs, or P.E curriculum. Our Armed Forces Co-ordinator hosts a weekly youth club every Wednesday afternoon.
Head Teacher, Anthony Goth, said: “Weeton Primary School and AFC Fylde Community Foundation have worked together for over 10 years. I’m in my 13th year as Head Teacher so I’ve been here since the start. We liked what was on offer at the time and we’ve stuck with it ever since.
“Obviously, the Foundation has grown and changed, we’ve seen lots of different coaches and how everything has developed, but we’ve continued to work together because the Foundation are really good at accommodating our needs as we have changed ourselves over the years as well.
“It originally started off as just football, but the coaches have developed to fit our needs and to be able to meet our requirements, not just offer a specific package.
“We get a lot from the partnership with the Foundation as we receive high quality coaches coming in and teaching P.E lessons or extra-curricular sessions tailored to our personal needs, which is produced due to professional conversations to make both sides happy.”
Mr Goth believes that the partnership is beneficial to both sides, as not only do they receive a high standard of coaching, but it also opens up connections to other Foundation projects.
“As a result of the partnership with the Foundation, every child in our school has the opportunity to experience high quality P.E provision, delivered by skilled coaches instead of teachers who may not be as skilled in that specific field.
“It’s really useful for children to see coaches coming into school because they are able to gain more from an external organisation than they would from one of their teachers.
“Our links with the Foundation provides pathways to the Development Centre delivered at Fylde Sports and Education Centre.”
We are proud of the work our Armed Forces programme produces and Weeton Primary is one of the main beneficiaries of this, receiving daily support from our Armed Forces Co-ordinator.
“Although we’re a Community Primary school, 50% of our students are from a military background. So, the links with the Armed Forces programme at the Foundation is useful because one of the coaches that comes in daily is ex-forces himself.
“Not only to coach the children but to build a relationship with the parents and relate to them a bit more than others might do – I’ve found that quite a few parents actually seek him out for reassurance and acknowledgement of what life is like after the forces.”
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