Education
ITFC Charitable Trust has launched a new season of Respect workshops for local schools
We understand that football and other sports have the potential to play a key role in the academic development of children living all over Suffolk. Through Education projects we have run over the years and working in partnership with Suffolk schools, we have helped thousands of young people improve their academic achievements and confidence.
Students score with self-belief in schools learning project
Our Going for Goals programme has commenced with four schools coming to us here at the Trust. Each school will attend once a week for six weeks and the schools each select 15 students for the two hour, after school sessions.
Whitton Community Primary, Castle Hill Juniors, Cliff Lane Primary and Hillside Community Primary make up the quartet of schools attending, with the students taking part in various activities including; Maths, English and ICT. The programme also includes a tour of the ITFC stadium at Portman Road and various team building activities.
The programme is led by Neil Reader, our recently appointed Education Officer. The aim of the programme is to give students a boost to their confidence as well as improving their learning. Neil says “The students in this programme really seem to be enjoying the sessions and are gaining a great deal of self-belief. This is a life skill which they can transfer to their learning back at school.”
Over the course of the Academic year we aim to invite 24 schools to our offices here at Portman Road for a six week period. There is no cost whatsoever to the school and all transport is provided by us here at the Trust. The target groups are Key Stage 2 and 3.
If you think that your child’s school would be interested in attending, pass on Neil Readers contact details onto the appropriate person at your school neil.reader@itfc.co.uk or phone him on 01473 400588. For more details of how ITFC Charitable Trust works with schools and young people in Suffolk check out the rest of this website.
Fast Forward – Football and Schools working together
Although national funding for the Fast Forward scheme finished in July 2010, Plume School was so impressed with the impact the scheme had on students it decided to carry on. Using their own resources, Plume school have continued working with ITFC Charitable Trust to inspire their year 10 and year 11 students.
The Plume School Homework club takes place for one hour every Wednesday after school. In return for regular attendance to this club their year 10 and 11 boys have a full coaching day at Ipswich Town Football Club thanks to the Trust each term. In addition to this there is a match planned to take place against an I.T.F.C. year 10 Player Development group, here at Portman Road, early in the summer term.
boys greatly appreciate the support given by the school’s Homework Club as well as the very high quality coaching they receive on their visits to the ITFC Charitable Trust.
Complimentary tickets to an Ipswich Town match are also supplied once per term for the most deserving students as reward for good work and attendance at Homework Club.
Bob Barnes one of the organisers of this initiative says “Over the years we have liaised closely with other plume teaching staff to ensure the boys are doing work at Portman Road which is appropriate to their current studies and needs.” “This works extremely well and attendance at our Homework Club is excellent.”
Bob is helped to run the club at Plume School by colleagues Kim Demes and Ian Tarbet. The students also told us;
“Homework Club is great; we get to work together and co-operate to complete our homework efficiently. We also socialise, so it is easier to do it in school than at home. It’s great as there are no distractions. There is fantastic help available so we learn better and strive towards reaching our best levels.”
“As a reward we then get a day off school to do a whole day of training and playing tournaments at ITFC. The coaching days are very enjoyable and beneficial, although hard work! The coaches also treat us really well.” Oliver Gregory
“I really enjoy homework club because it gives me extra time to do homework and is more enjoyable than at home as you are working with friends. Also, there are no other distractions at school, such as the TV or my laptop, so we are focussed and motivated to do the homework and after that we get the great experience of training with Ipswich Town’s coaches, whilst getting a day off school as well. The coaching is more advanced than we normally get and is really enjoyable every time we go. The coaches are also very friendly and treat us much more like adults.”Jake Gilroy
We enjoy going to Ipswich to train. It is a highlight each term at school. Also the bribe of going to homework club takes pressure off us to complete every piece of work at home so it is helpful to us. It is made worthwhile by the hope and anticipation that we may meet the legend himself, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, on one of our visits! Sam Vina, Josh Griggs, Ciran Finn and James Beard
I come to homework club to be able to do the coaching at I.T.F.C. but surprisingly we have fun and enjoy ourselves while getting our homework done at the same time. It’s also good because we don’t have to do our homework at home and get to spend longer with our mates, also there are no distractions like TV, radio or computer.
We enjoy the coaching at Ipswich Town because it’s more advanced than at our clubs and it is also great spending just a day playing football with our mates at a professional football club. Andy Boden
I think that homework club is a great way to be motivated to get homework done. It is an excellent focus on being able to succeed, enduring homework with friends and to co-operate with each other in a sincere manner. Because there are no distractions we can get it completed. The actual incentive of having the opportunity to go to Ipswich once a term to play and train with the club is a real motivator. Also, complimentary tickets are available for the best of us and the coaching is more advanced than what we get in school and is really enjoyable and we feel great as they teach us in an adult manner. Callum Buckingham
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