School of the Term: St Mary's Catholic Primary School

St Mary's Catholic Primary School have been named as the Devon Chance to Shine School of the Term for the 2024/25 Summer Term.

Our East Devon Community Coach, Chris Brown, delivered a six-week Whole School Programme in Term 5:

"St Mary's bought into the whole school programme brilliantly," says Chris. "Children and staff alike wanted to improve, and the enthusiasm that they brought to every session was fantastic."

The school also brought teams to the Devon Cricket Foundation's Countdown Cricket Competitions, representing the school in a brilliant fashion and bringin passion and energy to the days.

Over the summer, Chris returned to Axminster to present the school with their certificate and a Chance to Shine kit bag as part of the award.

"The school's PE lead, Rachel Burrough, was fantastic in helping plan the delivery but also in throwing herself into the sessions, something which really ensured her children got the most out of it.

"A particular highlight was Robins class (Reception) trying bowling for the first time, high levels of perseverance and high success rates too!"

Our Community Coaches are set to start delivering in schools again from next week and will be looking for our next School of the Term. Find out what they were up to in the summer term below.

Summer Term Review

South Devon - Niall Leahy

The Summer term was a very full on with six Whole School Programmes (Kings Ash, Highweek, Teignmouth, Totnes St John, Haytor View, Ashburton) 1 Secondary School Girls Programme (St Cuthbert Mayne), 2 Dynamos intros clubs (Highweek & Haytor View), 3 afterschool clubs (St Cuthbert Mayne, Gatehouse, Harbertonford), 10 Festival & Competition days and our County Countdown Finals Day.

The six WSPs and secondary school girls programme were all aimed at giving the pupils an opportunity to try all the skills in cricket and to help the pupils improve their confidence playing cricket. The schools all engaged with the programmes excellently, with Teachers and TAs getting fully involved in supporting the sessions.

The end of May saw the running of our 4 regional secondary cricket competitions. The Under 13 events took place at Abbotskerswell Cricket Club, and the Under 15 events were held at Brixham CC. All four days were played in great spirit with some great cricket on show across all the events. A big thank you must be said to both Abbotskerswell CC & Brixham CC for hosting us this year.

The summer term also saw me working with John Julyan at Paignton Academy to run 2 cricket events at Paignton Academy. The first event saw 270 pupils from 9 different schools taking part in fast-paced matches all afternoon. The second event was a skills event with 180 Year 1 and Year 2 pupils taking part in a carousel of activities that were led by Young Leaders from Paignton Academy.

Two of our Whole School Programmes also involved the running of a Dynamos Intros cricket club for the pupils' afterschool. Dynamos Cricket Intros is a free cricket program designed to introduce children aged 8-11 to the sport, particularly those in underserved communities. It focuses on making cricket fun and accessible through simplified games and active sessions.

East Devon - Chris Brown

Over the course of the term, I delivered five whole-school programmes, a day of cricket repeated over multiple weeks, the schools which kindly had me in were Webber's CoE Primary School, Shute Community School, Burlescombe CoE Primary School, Kilmington Primary School and St Mary’s Catholic Primary School.

Some of these schools had already experienced our Chance to Shine delivery, and we were soon building on previously learned skills while new schools grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

West Devon - Jack Ormsby

This term has been another fantastic and rewarding one, delivering cricket sessions across multiple schools and community settings. Across Term 5 and Term 6, I delivered a total of four WSPs. Term 5 saw a successful programme run at Milton Abbot, where pupils engaged brilliantly throughout. Term 6 was particularly busy, with WSPs delivered at Eggbuckland Vale, Shakespeare, and Bickleigh Down Primary Schools. Each school showed great energy and enthusiasm for cricket, and it was encouraging to see both pupils and staff getting stuck in and enjoying the sessions.

Alongside the WSPs, I had the opportunity to deliver two Girls Programmes this term. One ran in Term 5 at Sir John Hunt, and another in Term 6 at Marine Academy Plymouth. Both programmes were well received and created positive, inclusive environments for the girls to build confidence and improve their skills through cricket-based activities.

Our Wicketz hubs have continued to run consistently across both terms, providing a valuable space for regular cricket engagement and development in the community. It’s been great to see steady attendance and enthusiasm from participants.

A big thank you to all the staff across the various schools, especially the teachers and teaching assistants, who helped make these sessions possible, regardless of weather or other challenges. Your support and flexibility are always appreciated.

North Devon - Martin Brice

The Spring and Summer Terms were incredibly busy with the delivery of our ever-popular multi-week Whole School programmes which build both personal and physical skills, one-off Engagement Days to inspire pupils about how great Cricket is, multi-week SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) programmes, 20 Festival days which allow pupils to take part in skills activities and small-sided games in either our countywide Countdown Cricket Competitions held at North Devon CC or in a less competitive way where participation is the focus. These Festivals are generally held at Cricket Clubs or at Secondary Schools across North Devon.

A full list of programmes delivered can be seen below:

Whole School Programmes: Bideford College, Chulmleigh Primary School, East-the-Water Community Primary School, Great Torrington Bluecoat Church of England Primary School, Hartland Primary School, Holsworthy Church of England Primary School, Ilfracombe Church of England Junior School, St Margaret's Church of England (Aided) Junior School (Northam), West Croft School (Bideford) and Woolacombe School.

Engagement Days: Braunton Academy, East Worlington Primary School, Eden Park Academy (Barnstaple), Landkey Community Primary Academy, Lapford Community Primary School, Hatherleigh Community Primary School, Horwood and Newton Tracey Community Primary School, North Molton Primary School, Southmead School (Braunton), South Molton Community College, South Molton Community Primary School, St Giles-on-the-Heath Community School, Sticklepath Community Primary Academy (Barnstaple), The Park Community School (Barnstaple), Tiverton High School, Winkleigh Primary School and Yeo Valley Primary School.

SEND Programmes:  Acorn School (Winkleigh), Marland School (Barnstaple and Bideford), On Track Education Services Ltd, Pathfield School (Barnstaple), The Lampard Community School (Barnstaple) and The Shoreline Academy (Barnstaple).

All our School programmes link to the local Super 1s and Wicketz Hub, which was held at Pilton Community College (Barnstaple) during the Spring Term and then moved outdoors to The Park Community School (Barnstaple) for the Summer Term. This Hub provides free weekly softball cricket sessions for young people with a disability or SEN (Super 1s) or a community cricket hub which focuses on breaking down barriers, developing crucial life skills, creating stronger communities, and enabling brighter futures for those taking part (Wicketz). The Hub are still very much in its infancy, but the numbers attending continue to grow.  

The majority of my work is school-related, but there is still time to develop new free-to-access opportunities with Clubs or in those harder-to-reach communities. I have worked in partnership with Braunton CC to run a 10-week Girls Only programme this summer with around 20 girls in School Years 4 - 9 attending regularly, two 'Turn and Play' sessions at Bideford CC for Girls in School Years 4 - 8 and 'Come and Try' sessions in Chulmleigh, Great Torrington and Ilfracombe. I will be running 4-week Summer Camps in Great Torrington and Ilfracombe as I look to re-establish or build new community provision.

Find out more about our Whole Schools Programmes on our website or by contacting your local Club & Community Coach.