New Partnership: Queen’s Croft High School
We’re delighted to announce a new two-year partnership with Queen’s Croft High School, delivering the We Are Forging Futures educationally-aligned personal development journey.
Queen’s Croft High School joins a growing number of primary and secondary schools that fall under the We Are Forging Futures partner family, in association with British Fencing. Partners receive support from BF to deliver this personal development and educational-aligned programme, which is focused on resilience and self-efficacy through a themed-based physical literacy approach.
Queen’s Croft High School is an inclusive special school located in Lichfield, Staffordshire, dedicated to supporting students with a range of additional needs, including moderate to severe learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school provides a nurturing, inspiring environment where every student can learn, thrive and develop into an exceptional young person. At Queen’s Croft, it’s all about being G R E A T and inspiring G R E A T ness! The We Are Forging Futures personal development programme complements the school’s ethos and values, helping students grow in confidence, character, and independence.
Harry Brown, Head of Partnerships at BF, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Queen’s Croft High School to support pupils with their learning journey, developing vital personal skills through fencing. We are thrilled to be able to enable staff and pupils to grow as resilient members of the school community, and look forward to seeing this exciting fencing collaboration flourish over the coming years.”
Laura Jones, PE & Vocational Lead at Queen’s Croft High School, said:
“All students at school will benefit from the programme as it builds on confidence and fosters resilience. Some students struggling to engage in lessons and lacking in self-confidence and self-efficacy will be put into intervention groups. We liked the idea that this was accessible to students from deprived backgrounds with additional needs. It’s inclusive and works well with our own school motto “Inspiring Greatness” – goals, readiness, education, achievement and talent.”
British Fencing is the National Governing Body for the sport of fencing across the six home nations, and We Are Forging Futures is the visual identity representing our work in education. Partners 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 the BF philosophy around a participant’s journey in the sport of fencing. The lessons align with the BF Achievement Awards of ‘MiniSwords’ (foam delivery aimed at 5-7 year olds) and ‘Go/Fence’ (plastic delivery aimed at 8+).
Partners with access to the programme attend a rigorous two-day training process that provides underpinning insight and knowledge into how to use games and swordplay fun to introduce fencing to 4-14 year olds. The training explores how to use the resources effectively to develop the young participant’s resilience and self-efficacy and contribute to teachers’ CPD, widening and deepening the quality of a school’s PE, 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’.
If you would like more information about our work in schools, please contact Harry Brown, Head of Partnerships, via [email protected] or 07840 856370.
