News

24/04/2024 00:00, In Blog / School News /

Please see below the provisional details of the school district summer term track & field fixtures, schools athletics initiatives, and staff training courses for teaching secondary and primary school athletics for wider distribution amongst your school, college and university networks.

Secondary schools & colleges track & field championships:

The Welsh Secondary Schools & Colleges U15, U17 & U20 Track & Field Championships will be held at Cardiff International Sports Campus on Saturday 6 July 2024. To participate you must be selected by your school district via your school district trial. Below are the provisional dates and venues for the eight school districts finals we have been advised of to-date. Pupils from any school district wishing to participate should speak to their school PE teacher for event times.

Age Groups: U15 = school years 8 & 9 = Junior. U17 = school years 10 & 11 = Middle. U20 = school years 12 to 14 = Senior.

• Wednesday 24 April, Cardiff & the Vale, Middles & Seniors @ Cardiff
• Tuesday 30 April, South East Wales @ Newport
• Tuesday 7 May, Eryri @ Bangor
• Tuesday 7 May, Afan Nedd Tawe @ Swansea
• Wednesday 8 May, Glamorgan Valleys, Middles & Seniors @ Aberdare
• Thursday 16 May, Cardiff & the Vale, Junior Boys @ Cardiff
• Tuesday 21 May, Cardiff & the Vale, Junior Girls @ Cardiff
• Wednesday 22 May, Glamorgan Valleys, Juniors @ Aberdare
• Thursday 23 May, Powys Schools @ Brecon
• Wednesday 5 & Monday 10 June, Dyfed @ Carmarthen
• AWAITING North East Wales, Juniors & Middles @ Wrexham

The Welsh Schools Track & Field Championships on Saturday 6 July 2024 also act as the selection event for the British Schools U17 international which are being held at home in Carmarthen on Saturday 20 July 2024. Perhaps unique to athletics pupils entered by PE teachers, can potentially progress all the way to a Welsh National vest without being affiliated to a club, academy, regional or national development program. In addition, school year 7 is not included in the formal schools championships pathway, however, some school districts do hold year 7 events within their country trials or as stand-alone events, please contact your PE teacher for details.

Secondary Schools U14 & U16 cup matches:

The NASUWT Welsh Secondary Schools U14 & U16 Cup & Plate finals will be held on Wednesday 10 July 2024 in Brecon. This is a school team rather than an individual or school district representative event. To participate your school must first have progressed through your school district cup qualifying fixtures. To be considered for selection for your school team, speak to your PE teacher, listed below are provisional dates and venues for the school cup final fixtures we have been made aware of to date:

Age Groups: U14 = school years 7 & 8. U16 = school years 9 & 10.

• Thursday 16 May, North East Wales @ Deeside
• Tuesday 25 June, South East Wales @ Newport
• Tuesday 25 June, Afan Nedd Tawe @ Swansea
• Tuesday 25 June, Powys @ Newtown
• Thursday 25 June, Glamorgan Valleys Finals @ Aberdare
• Wednesday 26 June, Eryri U14 & U16 @ Bangor
• Thursday 27 June, Dyfed @ Carmarthen
• AWAITING Cardiff & the Vale, Preliminary Match 1 @ Cardiff
• AWAITING Cardiff & the Vale, Preliminary Match 2 @ Cardiff
• AWAITING Cardiff & the Vale Finals @ Cardiff

Teacher Training Opportunities:

For secondary school teachers & trainee teachers, we offer:

Teaching Secondary School Athletics Workshop. £60pp. This can be an online or face to face, 3 x Two hour or one 6 hour workshop covering the topics of:

• Teaching Running Events & Developing Pupils Engagement
• Teaching Jumping Events & How to deliver an Inclusive, Child-Centred Approach
• Teaching Throwing Events & Developing Schemes of Work and Lesson Plans

Each workshop is accompanied by free access to the Secondary Schools App-based Resource, associated with the workshop topic (i.e. If you attend the running workshop you will get the Running Teaching Resource, but if you attend all three workshops you will get the full secondary schools bundle). These resources include:

• Examples of Schemes of Work and Lesson Plans
• Technical tips on how to teach sprints, endurance, jumps and throws events
• Activity cards covering a full range of athletics events for pupils aged 11+
• Pupil Tasks Cards for greater independent learning

The resources associated with this workshop are provided via the Schools Athletics App, which has been designed to place running, jumping and throwing at the heart of school physical education, whilst supporting teachers in delivering athletics activities in an inclusive, exciting and engaging manner. 

If you would like to attend or book for your staff a teachers education workshop please email andrew.jenkins@welshathletics.org who will support you in making or scheduling a booking

For primary school teachers & trainee teachers, we offer:

Run Jump Throw Teaching Primary School Athletics Workshop. £50pp. The aim of this course is to provide teachers, new teachers and trainee teachers and others working in primary schools with the knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver enjoyable and engaging running, jumping and throwing lessons that focus on maximum participation, increasing understanding and skill acquisition based upon high quality technical models. If you would like a workshop delivered please email education@welshathletics.org to request a course for your staff or students.

The workshop involves:

• Interactive and practical activities
• An extensive Teaching Resource which includes:
  • Two examples of Schemes of Work and two blocks of 6 week lesson plans
  • Over 20 activity cards covering running, jumping and throwing
  • A series of support cards on How to Measure a pupils progression and improvement, Top Tip Inclusion Cards, Team Relays and Timed Runs information cards.

Aimed at qualified and trainee teachers and those who support in the delivery of high quality sport and physical education in primary schools. The workshop aims to give the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to deliver enjoyable and engaging lessons that focus on encouraging maximum participation and increasing understanding, skill acquisition, fitness and enjoyment of children.

The Resource

Run, Jump, Throw embraces a child’s natural desire to move. The resource focuses upon running, jumping and throwing, the building blocks of athletics, which in turn underpin nearly all other sports and physical activities. Within this resource teachers will find three teaching sections covering the main stages of development:

• Ages 5 - 7 Years
• Ages 7 - 9 Years
• Ages 9 - 12 Years

THE DAILY MILE

Why not use The Daily Mile to help prepare your pupils for the summer term track & field events. As part of an exciting new partnership, Welsh Athletics has entered into a formal partnership with The Daily Mile. The Daily Mile is a transformative initiative where children run, jog, wheel or walk for fifteen minutes every day. Inclusivity and accessibility has always been at the heart of The Daily Mile – getting young people involved regardless of ability. For more details on how to sign your school up for this initiative click here.

QUADKIDS

QuadKids is a UK wide format which has been adopted by many clubs, Primary & Secondary schools within their competitions and Sports Days. It allows pupils to participate together as a team and compete across four events, scoring points based on their performances.  This easy to run athletics format encourages participation for all ages and abilities and has been widely used throughout the UK for many years.

What? Four events: Standing long jump, vortex throw, 600m and 75m.

• Who? Primary and Secondary school aged children, usually in school years 5 to 8. A team consists of 2 boys and 2 girls in the same school year. Schools can be invited to attend QuadKids or Super 8 competitions against other local schools can enter teams in either year group (this may vary across local authority / region).  
• For more details on how to get involved with Quad Kids and see these amazing resources, click here; QuadKids Home Page

SPORTSHALL

Sportshall Athletics is an exciting indoor programme of adapted athletics activities for Primary & Secondary aged pupils. Sportshall provides fun ways to build core skills and is renowned for its exhilarating team competitions. Sportshall is the top school sports participation competition in the UK. In Wales the schools athletics districts, along with support from Welsh Athletics, deliver sportshall competitions usually during curricular or extracurricular time. From these competitions, secondary teams are selected to represent their school district at the National Sportshall Final. In addition there are plenty of ideas and a variety of formats for Primary aged pupils too.

• What? Standing long jump, standing triple jump, vertical jump, speed bounce, shot put, 2 laps, 4 laps, relays.
• Who? Primary & Secondary school children aged up to 14.
• For more details on the various Sportshall Athletics schemes click here Sportshall Secondary Competition - ideal Schools Athletics Competitions

JUNIOR PARKRUN

• What?  Junior parkrun is a series of 2k events for children aged between 4 and 14. They are held in areas of open space around the UK. They are open to all, free, and are safe and easy to take part in.
• Who?  Children aged between 4 and 14.
• How?  To get involved in junior parkrun please visit the Junior parkrun website.

Want to find out what other races you can put in your diary? Click here