Department of Education visit schools in Oldham to see Opening School Facilities in action

Representatives from the Department of Education visited two schools in Oldham earlier this week to see the successful Opening School Facilities (OSF) programme in action.

Beverley Southward and Jackie Behan represented the Government department that funds the OSF programme on the visit and they were accompanied by Claire Lee, National Programme Lead for OSF for the Active Partnerships National Organisation (APNO), and Lauren Whaley, Oliver Tomasson and Christine Bland from GM Moving.

The first stop on the visit was The Hathershaw College which has been part of OSF since the very first phase of the programme in January 2020. The funding they’ve received has helped them to focus on providing girls with further opportunities to take part in physical activity across keep fit, cricket and football.

The second stop on the group’s visit was New Bridge School, a special needs school that is also located in Oldham, which has used the OSF funding to develop a wide range of lunchtime projects for pupils. These projects have allowed the pupils to engage in fun activities that are helping to develop their confidence, socialisation and co-ordination skills.

As part of her visit, Claire Lee was able to discuss the sustainability of the OSF programme with the schools, explaining the work that is currently taking place to ensure the long-term success of a programme which involves Active Partnerships from across the network and which is delivered in partnership with Street Games, ukactive and the Youth Sport Trust.

Claire said: “It was great to be part of this visit and to see for myself how the Opening School Facilities programme is operating at a local level.

“Visiting these two schools also allowed me to see how the programme is being delivered in different ways, for example, The Hathershaw College operates within a trust and is ensuring involvement with primary schools, as well as providing facilities for the local community . It was also great to see how New Bridge School is offering a provision that is suitable for people with complex needs, as well as hearing about their long-term vision to provide even more activities.

Speaking about the latest figures relating to the programme Claire said: “Thanks to the funding from the Department of Education, our partners, and the hard work of every Active Partnership involved in this programme, we have already surpassed our targets three months before the end of the second year of the programme in March.

“In particular it is rewarding to see that, at a time when the latest Active Lives figures revealed that 53% of children aren’t meeting the daily guidance on activity, we have more than 315,000 children and young people participating in projects across England.

“There is of course always more work to be done, but it’s great to see that schools and Active Partnerships across England are very focused on ensuing that those groups that often face barriers to taking part, have had an opportunity to participate in a range of different activities.”

You can find out more about the latest developments with the OSF programme here.