8/10/24
INTER SCHOOL SPORT 24/25 UNDERWAY
Our 24/25 season of Inter School competitive sport in now underway after a fantastic Friday afternoon of fixtures with Kirton Lane and Holy Family.
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Y6 pupils competed in Curling, Basketball and Handball matches, with every child getting the same amount of playing time.
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All of the children demonstrated great sportsmanship and team work, with Kirton Lane being victorious in the Curling and Holy Family winning the other two events.
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Well done to all those involved and we look forward to seeing you at further competitions throughout the year.
1/9/21
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SUMMER OF FUN AT CLUB THORNE COLLIERY
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The summer of 2021 is one we'll never forget after working with over 130 amazing children in Thorne and Moorends as part of the nationwide Holiday Activity and Food programme.
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For 5 hours a day, we provided fun and engaging sports and games for these young people and at lunchtime they were provided with a hot meal (Curry Tuesdays were a particular favourite!).
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It was fantastic to see the positive impact it had on the local community and we can't wait to work on similar programmes in the near future.
30/1/19
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BADGE OF HONOUR FOR SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS
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Members of the Xcite Sports Academy at Hatfield Woodhouse were this week delighted to receive their membership badges, which recognise the commitment they have shown by engaging with as many physical activity opportunities as possible at school.
As well as leading healthy and active lifestyles themselves, they also act as ambassadors to other pupils throughout school by promoting these opportunities and setting a positive example.
Keep up the good work everyone and wear those badges with pride!
20/11/18
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AND WE WOULD RUN 500 MILES...
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Children at Kirk Sandall Junior School can 'proclaim' their achievements after passing the 500 mile barrier at their weekly lunchtime running club.
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Since the club was first launched, Mr O'Neill and his Xcite team have recorded the number of laps completed by each child. By adding these scores together, it has been possible to track the total distance covered by children in the school as a whole and in recent weeks they have surpassed the incredible 500 mile mark!
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Every child should be rightly proud of their efforts and we look forward to reaching the 1000 milestone - and having lots of fun along the way.
24/6/17
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KIDS GO CRICKET CRAZY IN MEXBOROUGH
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Summer means lots of things: sunshine, ice cream, holidays....and cricket! Working in partnership with Mexborough Cricket Club, we invited our children along to a free taster session at their quality community club to experience the fun and thrills of a cricket training session. Once again, the children were absolute stars with a great turnout and lots of enthusiasm shown!
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The session is part of our Kids2Clubs initiative which encourages more children to join local sports clubs and provides links between schools and the clubs themselves. These sessions continue to be a real success with lots of children going on to attend the club on a regular basis and we can't wait for the next one!
30/3/17
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PUTTING CHILDREN'S HEALTH FIRST - zerObesity
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The health of our young people is important. Very important. Yet, as a nation, we are still not doing enough to tackle the problem of childhood obesity and associated wider health issues. This is exactly why we have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to launch our pioneering health and wellbeing programme - zerObesity.
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zerObesity is NOT a weight loss programme. Instead, it takes a much wider perspective by looking to improve the lifestyle habits of young people, in particular: increasing levels of physical activity both during and outside the school day, providing effective healthy eating education with a real world application, involving parents and the wider family, encouraging positive emotional health.
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Already we have seen so many wonderful outcomes and with the programme designed to be impactful over the long term, there will be many more successes to celebrate along the way.
10/12/16
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DODGEBALLS AND DEPARTURE GATES
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When we first announced our light-hearted competition to see who could take the most entertaining 'Dodgeball Selfie', little did we know it would clock up several thousand air miles and cross the Atlantic!
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As part of our Girls Dodgeball Club, we explored a variety of ways in which we could engage more and more girls to get involved. Knowing how popular selfies are with young people, we gave each club member a chance to take a dodgeball away and get the best photo they could with it. There were some hilarious and very creative ideas but well done to our winner, Lily, who took the ball on holiday with her all the way to New York and snapped a great pic in front of the Statue of Liberty.
18/9/16
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GIRLS ONLY DODGEBALL CLUB READY TO LAUNCH
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We are thrilled to announce the launch of our Girls Only Dodgeball Club next month! Working with similar-minded national and regional providers, we will be tackling the important issue of reducing participation amongst girls as they become older. Our project is designed to be much more than just a dodgeball club, with those girls attending being given the chance to train as future Sports Leaders, design and bring to life their own club kit, and win prizes in fun social media competitions. Best of all, it is completely FREE of charge to attend. The details of the club are as follows:
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Mondays and Thursdays, 4:45-5:45pm @ Kirk Sandall Junior School, wc 3rd Oct - wc 28th Nov
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Any girls wishing to attend are welcome to just turn up and join in the fun, or feel free to contact James O'Neill on 07851046611 or james@xcitesportsandfitness.org for further details.
13/4/16
CONGRATULATIONS TO SHAW WOOD ACADEMY - FITTEST PRIMARY SCHOOL CHAMPIONS!!!
Over 40 schools, 1500 children and finally one winner....Xcite would like to say a huge well done to the pupils and staff at Shaw Wood Academy for becoming our first ever Fittest Primary School Champions. We know the school are enjoying another successful year of sporting achievement and all the many hours of dedication and practice for the numerous competitions they attend has once again paid off with the exceptionally high fitness levels of those pupils who took part.
Our mission from the very outset was to inspire those young people to WANT to be fit and from the feedback we've had from schools, it is clear this Fitness Challenge has proven to be a real success. Numerical data has shown improvements in fitness of up to 30% over an 8 week period. There have been stories of children practising each night at home and even getting brothers, sisters and parents to join in. To all those who took part we say well done and most importantly, keep being fit.
11/1/16
ARE YOU THE FITTEST PRIMARY SCHOOL?
We are absolutely delighted to launch this never-been-done-before competition to schools across the whole region. The health and
fitness of our young people will always be a priority for Xcite and this challenge will encourage them to improve their fitness levels and
develop a passion to continue doing so.
After completing our research-guided fitness test, scores from all competing schools will be compared and our first ever FITTEST
PRIMARY SCHOOL will be crowned.
4/8/15
SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS GET THAT GOLD MEDAL
FEELING
Members of the Xcite Sports Academy at Carcroft school were rewarded for their fantastic efforts this year with a
visit to the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. This is an iconic venue in British Sport, with Jessica Ennis-Hill
and the Team GB boxing squad training here regularly as they prepare for World and Olympic success.
Our children took part in both Boxing and Athletics sessions, which gave them an insight in to the
experiences of the Champions themselves.
With the dedication and commitment to sport shown by all our Academy members and even more signing up to
join this September, we may well have some future sporting stars amongst us!
7/1/15
CHILDREN'S UNIVERSITY - OFFICIAL LEARNING DESTINATION
We are delighted to announce that Xcite Sports & Fitness is now an official Learning Destination for the Children's University!
The Children's University aims to promote social mobility by providing high quality, exciting and innovative learning activities and experiences outside normal school hours to children aged 7 to 14 (and 5 and 6 year olds with their families) and engaging the wider communities as learning partners in the realisation of this. At the heart of its work is the ambition to raise aspirations, boost achievement and foster a love of learning, so that young people can make the most of their abilities and interests, regardless of the background into which they were born.
As a new Learning Destination, any child attending our sessions is achieving recognised hours that can be recorded and signed our in their individual 'learning passports'. We are proud to share the same passions and ambitions which sit at the core of the Children's University ethos, and look forward to a productive partnership over the coming years.
16/11/14
ASSESSMENT IN PE - THE SOLUTION
"How does your school assess a child's performance in Physical Education?"
If you answered "We don't" to the above question, please don't feel embarrassed. Certainly don't feel alone.
Because that is the most common answer I receive after posing that very question to Head Teachers and
other school staff. Sometimes their response may be a little more progressive: "We write a number for their
attainment level on the end of year report". If that number is based on the teacher's interpretation of a vague
and highly subjective level descriptor then very best of luck to you. Thankfully those clouded, uncertain days
are in the past and we can look forward to a bright future 'Beyond Levels'. Or can we? Very few schools nor
external organisations have any sort of in depth assessment tool in place.
Until now......
Xcite Sports & Fitness have developed, with support and feedback from several educational establishments, an Assessment in PE tool that is available to all schools. This tool is based around three concepts: Simplicity, objectivity, effectiveness. Head Teachers and school leaders in assessment have declared this tool to be groundbreaking and for the very first time, fully integrating PE in to their current assessment procedures for core subjects.
Since this was introduced, the teaching of PE and pupil achievement in lessons across our schools has continued to strive forward. Any schools who are interested in seeing our comprehensive Assessment in PE tool first hand can contact James on 07851046611 or james@xcitesportsandfitness.org to find out more.
22/10/14
HEALTHY EATING AND LIFESTYLES CURRICULUM LAUNCHED
The autumnal sunshine may be dwindling, the long nights may be drawing in, but that doesn't mean you can't still live a healthy, active lifestyle each and every day. Our children certainly agree, and this half term they are going to be making some great choices about how to eat well and keep moving during the winter months.
We are launching our Healthy Eating and Healthy Lifestyles sessions both during curriculum PE lessons and extracurricular clubs. Using the fantastic resources from Phunky Foods we will be teaching the children about choosing healthy meals and snacks, showing them just what is in their fizzy pop and energy drinks, and how to keep active at a time of year when it becomes more difficult to participate in outside activities during the evening.
All those taking part will also be given the opportunity to become Health Ambassadors for their school, promoting the key messages from the sessions on a daily basis. So lookout for our fit and healthy young people, and please do not be offended if they remind you to pick up an apple instead of that Mars bar!
26/9/14
PLAYING FOOTBALL AT WESTMINSTER!
On Weds 10th Sept one of our partner schools, Kirton Lane Primary, were one of only 3 schools in the entire country
selected to go down to Westminster and take part in a football coaching session inside the Houses of Parliament
grounds!
What a wonderful experience it was for both the children and the whole school, and very much deserved due to their
tremendous efforts in promoting and driving forward P.E. & Sport over the last couple of years.
A huge thank you to the staff at Westminster, The FA and Sir Trevor Brooking for their hospitality during the visit.
7/7/14
KIDS GET XCITE-D AT WHEATLEY GOLF CLUB
Over 70 children from 6 different schools attended a number of free golf taster session at Wheatley Golf Club, one of Yorkshire's premier golf courses. The commitee there kindly allowed the children to use the specially-designed practice area to hone their skills, and PGA pro Aaron Hodkin got children in to the swing of things by putting them through a number of challenges aimed at improving all aspects of a budding golfer's game.
Mr Hodkin was full of praise for the scheme "it's great to see such a large number of children wanting to take part in golf and a real sign of how the game is becoming popular amongst younger players. It would be great to see some of these children take up the game, and follow in the footsteps of local golfing stars like Lee Westwood and Danny Willett."
23/6/14
QUALITY ASSURED SPORTS COACHING
We are delighted to announce that Xcite Sports & Fitness have been awarded the East Riding Council Quality Assurance Mark for the next 12 months. This award is only presented to sports organisations who meet a number of strict criteria which ensure the highest quality of sports coaching delivery to all young people we work with.
James O'Neill, Director, said "It is great news that the Sports, Play and Arts department of East Riding Council can see the effective methods and procedures we have in place, and have supported our efforts to deliver only the highest quality service by endorsing us to all schools in the region"
28/4/14
SCHOOL STAFF AND 6TH FORM STUDENTS ACHIEVE AWARD!
During the second week of the recent Easter Holidays, a group of primary school Teaching Assistants and 6th form students enrolled on to the Level 2 Award in Community Sports Leadership. The award looks at the core skills required when teaching a sports session such as the key aspects of leadership, how to plan and evaluate thoroughly and ways to ensure young people are motivated to take part.
Many primary schools are keen for their support staff to achieve this qualification so they can take a more leading role in the sporting programmes which the schools offer. It is a great addition and facilitates further potential for sports and activities on offer to the pupils.
All the candidates were fantastic in both their effort and application, delivering a range of creative and engaging sessions that the children loved being part of! And those efforts were rewarded as all candidates passed the course with flying colours and are now completing their additional sessions with community-based groups.
A huge well done to you all and best of luck for all your future sporting sessions!
