Opening School Facilities case study: Springwell Leeds Academy South

Springwell Academy is a Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) school covering three sites across Leeds. The South site accessed Opening School Facilities funding and delivered a range of alternative activities to support their children's needs around emotional regulation and confidence to be active. 

The boys movement programme was designed to provide a safe and supportive environmentto explore physical abilities and develop social skills. Boys often saw gymnastics as a girl's activity and previously refused to engage. The session featured a wide range of equipment, including mats, air tracks, and balance balls, which were all new and exciting. They experienced individual activities, supporting conversations around strength and flexibility, and promoting individual challenge as opposed to team games.

A 13-year-old boy at the school had always been quiet and reserved, and often avoided physical activities and social interactions that involved physical contact due to his additional needs. During PE classes, he would not be too involved, choosing activities that required little to no interaction with his peers. His reluctance to engage in physical activity was a cause of concern as this limited his SEMH progress and ability to build positive relationships.

As he became more comfortable with the physical activities, he started to interact more with his peers. He began to initiate conversations, share his experiences, and even offer help to others. The physical challenges of gymnastics helped to boost his self-confidence and the positive reinforcement from the staff and his peers encouraged him more. He eventually began to share equipment with others and high-five his peers which has never been witnessed before in school or at home.

This demonstrates the positive impact that targeted physical activity programmes can have on children's physical, social, and emotional development. By providing a safe and supportive environment, schools can help children overcome their fears and inhibitions and develop the skills they need to thrive. Because of this intervention the student is now more involved in all areas of the school curriculum and has developed positive and meaningful peer relationships as well as developed a passion not just for gymnastics, but a range of physical activities both in curriculum time and in recreational time.  The next step for the project is to implement a weekly session and begin to offer this opportunity at the other two sites by rotating equipment to embed boys' gymnastics.

Read the impact report in full.