Bolton Sports Alliance
The Bolton Sports Alliance finds solutions for local primary schools' PE and sporting needs. It is a partnership between Bolton School, Bolton Wanderers FC Community Trust, the Lancashire Outdoor Activities Initiative, Bolton Lads and Girls Club and the University of Bolton.
Aims
The Bolton Sports Alliance aims to provide high quality sport and physical education for the primary schools of Bolton using recognised local deliverers.
This may mean coordinating an individual school's entire PE programme or providing expertise over a shorter time-frame in a specific sport or activity such as cricket (Bolton School is an MCC hub centre), basketball, gymnastics, athletics, hockey, dance, netball and virtually any other sport as well as outdoor activities. Alternatively, the Alliance may help to set up a club for a school in a particular sport.
Each programme of activity is tailored to a school and meets OFSTED requirements as laid out in the Section 5 Framework.
The Alliance, working with the School Games' Organisers, also coordinates some hugely popular mass participation events such as Football Festivals, and offers CPD for PE teachers.
Background
The Bolton Sports Alliance was created in response to continuing cut-backs of sport provision from the local council. Bolton School collaborated with its long-standing partners and charitable non-profit organisations to form the Bolton Sports Alliance.
The partnership was launched in 2015 by Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle.
Resources
Bolton School's facilities are on occasion utilised by the Bolton Sports Alliance, particularly for mass participation events.
Pupils in Year 10 and up help with the running of mass participation events by volunteering as stewards and referees as appropriate.
A member of staff acts as the PE Programme Manager within the Alliance.
Impact
Gaskell Primary, an inner-city school in an area of high deprivation, said that support from Bolton School had been "very positive" in its efforts to use sport as part of its inclusion programme for newly arrived international pupils.
The School won the Whole School Community Initiative of the Year award at the prestigious TES Independent School Awards 2018 for its involvement in the Bolton Sports Alliance.
The judges said: "There is an extraordinary amount of work being done for an awful lot of people, with a very wide range of opportunities being provided by Bolton School. ... They have been absolute leaders in the sector in community work. It is a really strong project that has had a very significant impact on its area. A shining city on the hill."
Pupil Involvement
Bolton School pupils in Year 10 to 13 are often involved in the mass participation events as volunteers, for example refereeing matches at the Football Festivals or acting as stewarsd.
Primary school pupils from across the local area are involved in accessing the Bolton Sports Alliance to receive their PE provision.
Frequency
The Bolton Sports Alliance has been running since 2015 and is expected to continue indefinitely.