Following our success at the Suffolk Sports Awards ‘Secondary School of the Year’ where we took joint first place, we were delighted to receive a further nomination for the Eastern region sports awards hosted by the BBC at Bedford University.

We have been recognised due to the development of such initiatives as the Discovery Project, Sky Living for Sport and hosting the County Athlete Assessment Day for Suffolk Sport for the last two years.  As a school, all staff including the Headteacher believe it is not just the role of the Olympics to “Inspire a Generation” but every teacher, coach and elite performer in the school. Students are motivated to achieve by celebrating the success of their peers at National/International level either in traditional Olympic/Paralympic games or more diverse sports including Skiing, Petanque, Kick Boxing or Boccia  Students are celebrated on “walls of fame” and in the annual Sports Awards Evening (this year 700 people attended). The Copleston Legacy is reflected in the way these stars of the future embrace the ethos of the school in everything they do.

Retains a minimum of 2 hours of curriculum PE per week for each pupil.

Copleston has, since 2002, maintained a minimum of 2 hours PE for students in Year 7-11.  This is supplemented by an extensive out of hours programme of sports clubs. In addition to this, a large number of pupils in Key Stage 3 take advantage of the Wednesday Afternoon sports programme with, on average, approximately 350 students staying for an extra hour to take part in one of the 16 sporting activities on offer.

A high quality PE curriculum

Copleston prides itself on the High Quality PE it delivers to all students from Year 7 -13. The curriculum is broad but balanced, allowing students of all abilities to access on every level.  

Lessons range from the traditional games activities, where students develop competitive skills, tactics and strategies, to extensive use of the Climbing wall, Trampolining, Gymnastics or Dance which allows students to explore the aesthetic aspects of sport. The summer Athletics enables students to work at their optimum level and find success in personal goals before participating in our Olympic themed sports days. Fitness lessons cover a variety of aspects ensuring students discover the need for safe and structured exercise that can help them lead a healthy lifestyle.  

Sport Education lessons enable students to take on a variety of roles in order to develop leadership and officiating skills, understand the roles involved in running a team i.e. manager, captain, fixtures secretary etc…. The shining lights from this programme are then supported in our Leadership programme in Years 10 and 11.  In climbing wall situations Leaders take on the responsibility of belaying for others; developing communication, confidence and responsibility.  The department use innovative ideas to allow access for those who ordinarily would be put off by exercise. Dance mats, XBox Connect, kangoo boots and Zumba fitness have enabled groups to experience a different way of exercising in a fun non-competitive manner.

Our England Basketball AASE programme was awarded funding that will enable a select group of Year 12 and 13 students and coaches to visit Denmark and Sweden. Eight Copleston students have been selected to go.

Linking curriculum to community

Students involved in the “Discovery” project (inclusive Paralympic sports programme) have had an outstanding year and made excellent progress through their attendance in the many events developed in-house and shared across the local high schools. Hosting festivals and competitions in local community venues has helped to support the transition to lifelong participation. The Discovery Project’s sporting year culminated in a joint project with the Copleston Sports Council/School Games Committee to organise a “Sky Living for Sport” day. This event involved a day of activity, for identified Year 5&6 students in feeder Primaries, with the support of Olympian BMX rider Mike Mullen. Further to this the “Games Committee” also organised and supported the delivery of both the Copleston High School sports day as well as those of our local primary schools.

GCSE, BTEC and A level courses are well subscribed and successful, with many students pursuing sports related courses at degree level. Sports leadership in Year 11 has allowed students to develop skills and close links with primary schools enabling them to demonstrate these through delivery of sports sessions to Year 2-6 students. Over 1200 primary pupils from locals schools benefitted from this programme. 

In Summer 2012, Copleston teachers provided a day of leadership training for all of its 10 feeder schools involving the training of year 5 “young leaders” who now support midday supervisors to deliver active playgrounds helping to develop active lifestyles from Year 1 upwards.

Copleston delivered their first year as an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence Institution for basketball; one of only 16 institutions in the country to be awarded this and able to deliver this qualification. Four Copleston basketball students attended the inaugural National Young Coaches Academy (NYCA) hosted by the Youth Sport Trust in February. This was then followed up with them been selected to England Basketball's Young Coach Academy in April 2012. Two of these (Amy Linton/Dave Metcalf) have helped with the Suffolk School’s Basketball league administration for Ipswich with Amy been shortlisted for England Basketball Young Volunteer of the Year 2012.

Registered for the School Games and offers/takes part in a good number of high quality opportunities at levels 1&2 of the School Games Competition Framework.

Inter form competitions and Sport Education lessons at Copleston High School provide the school’s focus for the identification of students for all its school teams. Lunchtime Dodgeball, Football and Badminton, Table Tennis give students an opportunity to represent their form as well as practice for taking on the other local schools. This commitment allows the school to remain dedicated to enter as many competitions as possible providing numerous amounts of opportunities to students in all age groups. The table below shows the events the school won, the list of those entered is long and varied.

The schools' competition workforce has been commended regionally and 20 students from Copleston were involved in the delivery and officiating aspects of events leading to and in the Suffolk School Games.  Over 50 Yr 9 and 10 students took advantage of leadership academies over the year including activities such as Gymnastics, Netball (hosted at Copleston), Basketball, First Aid and Tag Rugby. These leaders are now further developing their skills through lower school clubs and competitions in school. Beyond the school day these leaders were involved in the delivery of area and county finals in a number of sports including Gymnastics and Basketball.

A London 2012 Get Set Network School.

Copleston joined the Get Set Network and is involved actively in using Olympics as a tool to encourage learning within the school. Year 8 Maths day challenge looked at the Olympic Park creation and the “It’s a Knockout Olympics”, a charity event for EACH, were part of the build-up to the games.

Working closely with a minimum of 2 community clubs and has evidence of excellent school/club links.

Ipswich Basketball Club has recently moved to Copleston Centre and will be training and playing in the newly resurfaced Sports Hall. This funding was gained as a result of the school's proven pathway and the obvious passion that there is in the school to channel young people into the growing sport. This provides them with a permanent and settled home and will encourage even more students to become involved in the club. Copleston has a longstanding relationship with the club originating back in 2006 when we created the Basketball pathway from year 4 to National League. This work, linked to Nick Drane and Ipswich Borough Council, has seen a rise in fame of a number of current Copleston Students who are now involved in England Basketball. As previously mentioned, these students are role models and regularly coach the younger students as a way of “giving something back.” Copleston’s Basketball Academy (6th Form team) has become an incredible success over the last 2 years, reaching the National finals in 2012.

IES Hockey club has its home at Copleston, playing all its home, male and female, fixtures at the High School. Students become more and more involved in this local club and enjoyed County success from the development of school and club training.

Copleston Tennis has gone from strength to strength since Ben Smith has taken on the coaching at the school. Students such as Josh Towers and James Ling are highly ranked in County and National standings and have benefited from the strong link between club and school.

As a school we host Ipswich Ladies Netball club who are a strong pull for our students and the work they have completed both at Copleston and in our feeder schools means that the pathway from Year 5 to 13 is developing on a yearly basis.

Beyond direct links to community clubs, Copleston High school works tirelessly to ensure that where possible, both level 2 and 3 competitions are played at the school further developing the “Inspiring a Generation” ethos of the school. This is achieved through weekly meetings between the PE Department and the two local School Games Organisers who understand and appreciate our vision.

A healthy school and continues to promote its status.

The variety of catering areas in school provides students with an enormous healthy choice demonstrating how healthy food can be a part of their lifestyle choice.  This relaxed and more convenient eating arrangement allows our sporting superstars to grab a healthy bite to eat after their morning swimming or breakfast basketball sessions. In addition to this, the school selects groups of students throughout the year to attend specific “breakfast sports clubs” which includes the students receiving exercise and a communal breakfast both increasing fitness but also supporting the students' social skills.

Communication to parents of our sporting and physical activities comes through a half termly Chronicle that both highlights the recent successes and the future opportunities for all young people in the school.

Copleston is an excellent school with a “can do” ethos for its entire young people. The young people in its community both at school, in the feeder schools and its linked community clubs receive the highest levels of both quantity and quality of activities through their committed vision for Sport and physical activity.