Partner Spotlight: Tibshelf Community School
Tibshelf Community School, one of our We Are Forging Futures partners, has enriched their curriculum by delivering swordplay activities to their students.
Tibshelf Community School is one of the primary and secondary schools that fall under our We Are Forging Futures partner family. Partners receive support to deliver our educational, Ofsted-aligned personal development programme that builds pupils resilience and self-efficacy. This is achieved through harnessing creativity and imagination to motive individuals to become physically active, unleashing the exciting world of swordplay.
Tibshelf Community School operates in Northeast Derbyshire and is focused on providing the very best environment for students to learn, thrive and develop as exceptional young people. The We Are Forging Futures personal development programme complements the school’s ethos and values.
Harry Brown, BF Head of Licensing, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Tibshelf Community School and are thrilled to be able to support the school on their fencing journey, enabling staff and pupils to grow as resilient members of the school community and beyond. With a focus on specific targeted groups, we look forward to seeing these pupils grow their personal development skills through weekly fencing delivery.”
Kate Bancroft, Director of Creativity at Tibshelf Community School, said:
“We are currently doing fencing in the curriculum as part of our ‘Try Something New’ block of work. Following this, the plan is to include it into the curriculum next year for targeted groups – at this point, we are thinking our lower ability PE groups and SEND intervention groups. After this initial introduction in lessons, we are also building fencing into our enrichment offer.”
Tibshelf Community School is an inclusive Comprehensive School for 11- to 16-year olds, serving a large semi-rural area of Northeast Derbyshire. They aim to provide all students the best education regardless of their starting point. They do this by nurturing students’ talents and abilities in a safe, creative space where they can develop their ambitions, creativity, leadership and drive for self-determination.
By joining our partner network, schools and organisations are equipped with the knowledge, support, and training to deliver the We Are Forging Futures Ofsted-aligned resilience and self-efficacy personal development programme, which is a researched and field-tested bank of 36 lesson plans aligned with British Fencing’s philosophy around a participant’s journey in fencing. The lessons align with the BF Achievement Awards, including ‘MiniSwords’ (foam delivery aimed at 5- to 7- year olds) and ‘Go/Fence’ (plastic delivery aimed at 8+ year olds).
Partners attend a one-day training process that provides underpinning insight and knowledge into how to use games and swordplay fun to introduce the sport of fencing to 4- to 14-year olds. The training explores how to use the resources effectively to develop the young participant’s resilience and self-efficacy. It contributes to teachers’ CPD, and widens and deepens the quality of a school’s PE, School Sport and Physical Activity agenda.
The personal development programme has been developed and road-tested for two academic years and provides schools with a route to engage young people, even if they don’t identify as ‘sporty’.
Harry Brown added:
“We know fencing is a great tool to combat the notion of ‘sporty’ versus ‘non-sporty’, and we look forward to working with all our delivery partners to evidence this more widely.”
If you would like more information about our work in schools and partnering with us, please contact Harry Brown via [email protected] or by calling 07840 856370.
