Youth Sport Trust

Youth Sport Trust Leadership at Abbeyfield School

“Empowering Young People Through Leadership, Not Just Sport”

We’re incredibly proud to be recognised as a Youth Sport Trust, Lead School for Wiltshire, one of only 60 schools across the country selected for our commitment to empowering young people through leadership in PE and school sport.

This national recognition is supported by our very own Mr Norgrove, who is a Youth Sport Trust Headteacher Ambassador. His passion for inclusive leadership and youth empowerment helps shape our vision, placing Abbeyfield at the heart of positive change across the region.

As a Lead School, we work in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, Chippenham Sports Partnership, and local schools and organisations to create inclusive opportunities for all students to grow as leaders, coaches, volunteers, and officials. We’re helping to shape the next generation of confident, capable young people, on and off the field.

“What Makes Abbeyfield’s Leadership Programme Special?”

At Abbeyfield, being a leader isn’t about being the fastest or strongest, it’s about having the confidence to inspire others, the curiosity to grow, and the commitment to make a difference.

Through our Youth Sport Trust Leadership Pathway, students can take on a variety of exciting and purposeful leadership roles:

Sports Ambassadors (Years 7–11)
Sports Council (Years 11–13)
Sports Enrichment Leaders (Years 12–13)

Our Sports Ambassadors are the face of youth sport at Abbeyfield. They organise and run primary school festivals, support community events, and take a lead role in developing inclusive sport across our local area. Whether it’s a busy week running two primary school sports days and a maths challenge, or launching a girls' football club from scratch — our Ambassadors step up every time.

They’re not just helping others, they’re growing too. Each ambassador works through the Youth Sport Trust Leadership Modules, designed to develop:

🗣️ Communication
🤝 Teamwork
🧠 Problem Solving
💪 Self-belief
🎯 Self-management

These fun, interactive modules build key life skills that go beyond the sports hall and into everyday life.

What You’ll Gain

Real-life leadership experience
Confidence and transferable life skills
National recognition through the Youth Sport Trust Award
A sense of pride and purpose from making a difference in your school and community

“Do I Have to Be Sporty?”

Nope! That’s the beauty of it.
Our Sports Ambassadors are a mix of personalities and abilities. You don’t need to be the best at sport, you just need the passion to lead, the drive to try, and the heart to help others grow.

If you're interested in being part of something bigger, leading events, shaping sport at Abbeyfield, and building skills for life, then the Youth Sport Trust Leadership Programme is for you.

Come and lead the way with us. Contact jep@abbeyfield.wilt.sch.uk

Recent News.......

We are thrilled to share with you the results from the day that was spent filming our amazing YourTime Sports Ambassadors.

The Sports Ambassadors are delighted to have played a role in creating the Leadership skills foundation UK website, sharing our YourTime Sports Ambassador thoughts and leadership journey. It's been a rewarding experience, blending our passion for sports with the digital realm to promote leadership inspiration for all!

Check it out 👇

https://leadershipskillsfoundation.org/your-time-impact/

Feedback

Abbeyfield School has been running its Sports Ambassador programme for the past 5 years. In 2020 the programme was recognise by Youth Sport Trust and together we will be taking leadership to every corner ot Wiltshire!

We are delighted to say:

•Abbeyfield School was recognised for its Outstanding Sports Ambassador and Sports Enrichment Programme.

•Abbeyfield School is now a representative of the county and takes a partnership approach to delivery with local schools and organisations to develop inclusive pathways for young people to progress as leaders, coaches, officials and volunteers. All LCV schools are provided with national networking and exclusive development opportunities to drive leadership and coaching forward across the country and to meet the needs of the young people locally.

•Leadership, Coaching and Volunteering (LCV) Lead Schools are members of a national network that use innovative approaches to drive individual and whole school improvement through leadership, coaching and volunteering.

•Collectively, the LCV network works closely with Youth Sport Trust to demonstrate the value and impact of leadership, coaching and volunteering within whole school and/or community contexts and ensures that these opportunities for young people remain inclusive.

If you would like to know more please contact jep@abbeyfield.wilts.sch.uk

‘ It’s great to have Abbeyfield as the new LCV school for Wiltshire. They have consistently, over many years, provided opportunities for students to develop their leadership abilities to allow their own younger students, local primary children and other organizations within the Mid Wiltshire area to benefit from regular physical activity. Abbeyfield continually lead the way with innovative programmes, the range of sports available and the inclusive nature of what they offer. I’m sure all the schools in Wiltshire will now benefit’.

Alma Borthwick Active Partner

Alma@wiltssport.org

Wiltshire and Swindon School Sport

It is widely acknowledged that the school leadership programme helps to build character and confidence and will ultimately have a positive effect academically. The LCV school plays a very important role in driving forward leadership, coaching and volunteering across the county, by offering training and deployment opportunities, and support for schools to provide suitable pathways for all young people.

I work closely with the LCV school through the School Games Programme to provide leadership opportunities for 300 young people each year. Abbeyfield School have regularly been my go to school as I can always rely on Jessica to provide high calibre leaders with the skills to be flexible and adapt to whatever role needs to be filled, often at short notice. As well as officiating this has included diverse roles such as being the SG mascot and being interviewed live by BBC radio at the showcase summer event.

With the strong commitment to leadership, Abbeyfield is in a great place to lead by example and inspire other schools who may not have developed their leadership programme to the same degree.

Paul Wickens School Games Organsier Mid Wiltshire

PWickens@devizes.wilts.sch.uk

https://midwiltsschoolsport.co.uk

An LCV school plays a key role across the County in creating pathways and opportunities for leaders, coaches and volunteers for all ages and abilities.

Abbeyfield would is a great choice as it has a long history of providing top quality leaders for local Chippenham partnership primary school events through to the County School Games events.

The opportunity to collaborate with different colleagues through the network benefits the schools and those pupils involved in these programmes.

This is an exciting opportunities and one Abbeyfield would do very well.

Selwyn Widger

School Games Organiser sw@acorneducationtrust.com

School Games Organiser

Being the lead school in Wiltshire, Abbeyfield Lead Youth Sports Trust member works closely with Wiltshire’s School Games Organisers. We attend regular meetings and work closely together to ensure Leadership in Wiltshire is on everyone’s agenda.

The School Games inspires young people to be physically active for life through positive experiences of daily activity and competition.

https://www.yourschoolgames.com/

Please click the following link to find out more about your school games organisers: https://www.wiltssport.org/wiltshire-and-swindon-sgos

Chippenham Sports Partnership

The Chippenham Sports Partnership is made up of representatives from each of the 3 main secondary schools; Jessica Pierce (Abbeyfield School And lead Youth Sport Trust) and Emma Barton (Hardenhuish), Selina Porter (Sheldon). Events are open to all schools in the Partnership. They involve a variety of competitions, festivals, programmes and staff CPD courses. Some of the competitions are School Games Competitions which you must enter if you want to progress onto Level 3. Other festivals are more informal and provide pupils with the experience of working alongside other schools. There is a chronological list of all competitions in this handbook with details of dates, times, venues and rules.

Pupils also have the opportunity to experience roles other than participant and during the year are invited to attend two Young Official Courses which take place at a local secondary school. These courses equip pupils with the knowledge they need to support Level 1 events on the school site.

There are other programmes available which target specific groups of pupils. These include gifted and talented pupils who are invited to be part of the Talent Team or hard to engage pupils who are invited to be part of the All Active Academy which incorporates the Change4Life objectives. Both programmes involve workshops at a secondary school site and a trip to Bath University.

It continues to be a priority of ours to work alongside staff involved with the planning and delivery of PE and sports. During the year there are many opportunities for staff to access CPD and networking events. These include PLT meetings, PE Federation Days and other locally organised events. Details of these events are outlined in this handbook.

To find out more about the Chippenham Sports Partnership please email Jessica Pierce: jep@abbeyfield.wilts.sch.uk

for more information check out…

The Chippenham Sports Partnership

Website www.chipsportpart.co.uk

Sports Ambassador Programme

“Be the Face of Leadership at Abbeyfield”

Our Sports Ambassador Programme is one of the most exciting and rewarding leadership opportunities at Abbeyfield School and it's open to everyone, not just those who play sport! All you need is a passion for helping others, a willingness to lead, and a desire to make a difference.

As part of this role, you’ll join the Abbeyfield PE Community, work alongside the Sixth Form leadership team, and become a key figure in our Sports Council. You’ll take on real responsibilities from running badminton and basketball sessions during breaks and lunchtimes, to organising and delivering sporting events for our feeder primary schools, and even helping to launch community events for preschool children and families across the wider Chippenham area.

What Will You Do?

Lead lunchtime and breaktime sports clubs
Plan and deliver primary school festivals and sports days
Support and host community events across all age groups
Attend and contribute to Sixth Form leadership meetings
Represent Abbeyfield as the face of our Sports Community

What Will You Gain?

Every student on the programme receives training and qualifications that prepare them for life after school, including:

Level 1 Safeguarding Training
First Aid Qualification (for Y12 & Y13 students)
Young Coaches Award
Mentoring & Event Leadership Skills
Experience working with over 2,000 children
Opportunities to run and support School Games events

You’ll also develop public speaking, teamwork, communication, and organisation skills — all vital qualities for future careers, university, apprenticeships, or volunteering.

Why Abbeyfield?

We are incredibly proud to be the only school in Wiltshire recognised by the Youth Sport Trust as a Leadership, Coaching & Volunteering (Lead School).
This means our Sports Ambassador Programme is part of a nationally recognised model, with high quality support, exclusive leadership modules, and a direct link to the Youth Sport Trust network.

Abbeyfield School is the only school in Wiltshire able to offer this level of leadership development.
We are leading the way in leadership — and we want you to be part of it.

Do I Have to Be Sporty?

Not at all!
You don’t have to be the best at sport — you just need to be willing to step up, support others, and show leadership. Whether you love organising, motivating people, being creative, or just want to build your confidence, there’s a place for you in the Sports Ambassador team.

Multi Skills Offer

Mrs Pierce can deliver Multi-Skill festivals in your school to support your children develop these life skills and prepare for competition in the future. Mrs Pierce will train your YR5 in the Youth Sport Trust Leadership programme, giving these students the skills to deliver these fantastic festivals. We also offer Key Stage Festivals at Abbeyfield School run by the experienced Youth Sport Trust Platinum leaders. You can use your sports premium to hire a coach or book the Abbeyfield mini bus to come and experience one of many Multi Skills Festivals.

Multi-Skill festivals are a fantastic way of supporting the development of fundamental movement skills. It is not competitive and you are working against your own ability.

Developing fundamental movement skills from a young age supports young people to be happy, healthy and confident movers, with the essential skills they need to develop a life-long love of being physically active.

Multi-Skill festivals include a rotation of multi-skill activities, e.g. jumping, skipping, throwing, catching, lunging, which challenge children to achieve their personal best.

These quality learning experiences allow children to develop their physical competence whilst experiencing wider social benefits and outcomes. To book your school in contact jep@abbeyfield.wilts.sch.uk

Contact YST Lead

Jessica Pierce

Youth Sport Trust Lead School Lead

jep@abbeyfield.wilts.sch.uk

In today’s challenging world, Abbeyfield School has been lucky enough to become the lead school in Wiltshire for all things Sports Leadership, Volunteering and Coaching (LVC), working with Youth Sport Trust. We as a school are fully committed to ensuring all children get the opportunity to experience leadership. We all understand the importance of being active and the direct impact in enhancing our wellbeing and improving our mental health.

LCV Lead Schools are beacons of best practice in their counties, promoting an increased profile and additional opportunities for young leaders in their area. LCV Leads play two essential roles: influencing and driving innovative leadership practice across the county providing support and guidance to schools and partners, and delivering targeted interventions appropriate to area of need.

To introduce myself, my Name is Jessica Pierce and I am delighted to be the Community Sport Leader responsible for delivering /giving the opportunity for your school to access the leadership programme though Youth Sport Trust and train YR5/YR6 to become Sports Leaders.

I have been responsible for running the Sports Ambassador Programme at Abbeyfield for the past 5 years and feel very passionate about children being given the opportunity to lead. My fundamental belief is that you do not have to be sporty to be a leader.

The main role of a Sports Leader: Respect, Self-Belief, Honesty, Team Work, Passion and Determination.

To achieve this we will:
• Encourage all children to get involved in sports no matter of ability.
• Create new ideas to develop sport within their school.
• Show sports leadership qualities such as team work, good listening skills, fair play and respect.
• Help teach children certain skills within different aspects of sport.
• Officiate different lunch time and intra-school competitions.
• Take suggestions and ideas from their class about how sport can be improved within their school.
• Help set up, get children involved, organise fair teams and record results from intra-school competitions.
• Create and deliver key stage assemblies on upcoming sporting events.
• Design posters to be placed around the school advertising sporting competitions and fundraising events.

If this is something your school would like to be involved with (fingers crossed you do as its super exciting) and would like to know more about the Youth Sport Programme, please do not hesitate to contact me: jep@abbeyfield.wilts.sch.uk

Girls Football Schools Partnership

Abbeyfield School is proud to be Barclays Mid-Wiltshire Girls Football Partnership School, 1 of only 150 Girls Football Hubs across the Country. Being a Girls Football Hub gives our schools the opportunity to access new and exciting initiatives that will support the Football Association and the Youth Sport Trust’s vision to give every girls equal access to football in schools by 2024.

By 2024 we aim to have:

75% of schools providing football in the curriculum for girls
90% of schools providing football participation opportunities for girls

There are lots of training and resources that schools can access.

Girls Football in schools website www.girlsfootballinschools.org

This website has been designed as a one-stop-shop for all schools to access, support, practical resources and useful information to develop girls football provision in your school

The FA Shooting Stars programme inspired by Disney

This programme is made up of two initiatives; Active Play Through Story Telling and Girls’ Football Clubs, both have been developed to support the engagement of girls aged 5-11 years old. There are some fantastic resources available to support you in delivering these sessions including story books, flipbooks and videos, as well as ‘take home’ adventure passports so children can share their experiences with parents/carers.

The FA Shooting Stars Active Play Through Storytelling programme inspired by Disney has been developed to support girls aged 5-8 in developing their physical literacy, speaking and listening skills through creative play and storytelling. The resources are designed to achieve the learning objectives based on Key Stage 1 Literacy and PE.

The FA Shooting Stars Girls’ Football Club programme inspired by Marvel has been developed to truly capture the imagination of Primary age girls, using super-human powers, high-tech gadgets and superheroes. There are resources available for both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Barclays Game On – GO Lead

Barclays Game On – GO Lead, programme offers girls 11-16 years the opportunity to learn to lead and then practice their leadership skills by delivering opportunities for their peers to participate in football. Offering this approach not only supports leadership skills but also increases opportunities for girls to participate in football led by girls, with the expectation to that the next generation of the female workforce will start to grow and develop.

We are delighted to be the Barclays Mid-Wiltshire Girls Football Partnership School, if you have any questions please contact Jessica Pierce jep@abbeyfield.wilts.sch.uk or girlsfootballinschools.org

Youth Sport Trust

Youth Sport Trust Leadership at Abbeyfield School

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“Empowering Young People Through Leadership, Not Just Sport”

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