PE and School Sport
Steve Wells Associates has extensive experience in the education sector. Our work with LEA's and individual schools includes ...
- facility design and development
- developing funding applications for sports facilities which benefit schools and their local communities
- PE and sport development planning identifying how high quality PE and school sport will contribute to whole school improvement
- providing opportunities for participation and learning in sport for the wider community
- strategic planning for PE and School Sport to contribute to local sports development strategies
We have in house expertise in PE and school improvement to assist you with developing your vision for PE and sport. Our PE consultant and design practitioners have built a collective expertise in translating a school's PE and sport vision into facility designs which are creative and innovative yet functional and fit for 21st century schools.
We can manage the challenges of site and budget constraints to advise on or develop bespoke sports facilities which are both cost effective and meet a school's identified needs. We help schools to develop single facility projects through to full scale provision for PE and school sport. We believe in the importance of facilities designed with the end user in mind, including teachers and students, local clubs, the wider community and other school partners, and we understand that a high quality learning environment has a major impact on effective teaching and learning.
This 60m x 40m fenced and floodlit 3G surface at Howden School was designed by Steve Wells Associates as
part of their successful bid to the Football Foundation. Booked every night, this facility ...
... is making sport happen.
Our work in the education sector includes commissions from individual schools and local authorities. We are also contracted to provide specialist advice and develop PE and sport facilities through the following national initiatives.
Academies Programme
We work on behalf of the Youth Sport Trust and the DfES to provide specialist advice to all new Academies with a sports specialism. Our work starts in the Feasibility Stage with curriculum visioning to broadly identify how the specialism will contribute to raising standards in PE and across whole school, and how it will be embedded in the Academy's ethos and identity. We help translate the curriculum vision into specific PE and sport facility requirements and designs. Academies aim to make a significant contribution to their local communities which needs to be articulated and reflected in PE planning and design.
In the Implementation Stage we assist with Sports Specialism Development Plans and finalising design details and for equipment and fittings.
We also support a number of Academies with a different specialism to sport, continuing to provide advice on the design and development of their PE and sports facilities.
Sports Colleges Programme
We are contracted by the Youth Sport Trust to support mainstream and special schools that are developing an application to become designated as a Sports College within the DfES Specialist Schools programme. This includes writing four-year development plans for PE and a second subject, and demonstrating how PE and school sport will be used to raise attainment across the whole school. The Community Plans in the Sports College bid set out how the school will work with partner schools and specific groups in the wider community.
We have assisted several schools with their Sports College capital projects. This work has ranged from providing design advice and budget estimates to taking on the full design and implementation of sports facility projects.
Case studies are included under the 'Clients' page on this web site where St Mary's College, Hull and Holgate School, Barnsley provide good examples of this work.
Building Schools for the Future
Sport England (Yorkshire) has commissioned Steve Wells Associates to undertake pilot work with Leeds City Council, a wave one BSF authority, focussing on Priesthorpe Sports College. The pilot will be used to inform Sport England's work with later wave authorities and schools, in particular Sports Colleges. Through this pilot we are helping Priesthorpe School to ...
- translate its Sports College Re-Designation Plans into facility re-modelling priorities
- identify how provision for dance and gymnastics can be enhanced through improved facilities
- extend and improve community sports provision, including a gymnastics development centre in partnership with a local gymnastics club, and increasing participation in physical activities by women
Sports Facility Funding and Development
We have developed successful funding applications for a wide range of school projects. This process involves the production of a number of detailed documents. The Technical Specification includes facility design details, planning approval and outline costings. The Business and Management Plans demonstrates the financial viability of the project and the operational arrangements. A Sports Development Plan based on extensive consultation with school and community partners sets out how the programme will have a positive impact on the school and the local community.
Case studies are included in this web site where Oaklands School; York, South Hunsley School, Beverley Longcroft School, and Howden School in the East Riding of Yorkshire; and Martongate Primary School, Bridlington and Kingsway Primary School, Goole all provide good examples of this work.
This bespoke design for three fenced and floodlit porous macadam multi-use games areas and a 120m long six lane polymeric sprint straight with jumps pits for school and community use on a constrained site at Holgate School and Sports College in Barnsley ... made sport happen.