Although the school summer holidays have nearly arrived, this is no excuse for the activity to stop; in fact, thanks to the Chelmsford School Sport Partnership (CSSP), led by Sara Robson, there’s a packed schedule of sporting events and competitions taking place throughout Chelmsford for children of all ages.

For the next two years, the CSSP programme is being supported by Beaulieu - the ground-breaking new residential development by Countryside and L&Q on the edge of the city - which will include three new schools, as well as state-of-the-art school sports facilities. This recent partnership will ensure that the tireless work of the CSSP to develop sport and PE across all 60 schools in Chelmsford, and the wider community can continue.

Coming up next week is one of the CSSP’s most popular events, the Mini Games, running between 9th and 11th June, when around 2,000 children from Year 2 will compete in a series of activities, inspired by the Olympic spirit, at the Chelmsford Sports and Athletic Centre (CSAC).

Throughout this month, other sports activities and competitions being held include a Mini Wimbledon competition, Golf, Canoeing, Basketball and Cricket, demonstrating the extraordinary breadth of the CSSP programme.

Another highlight comes at the end of June, with the Primary District Track and Field Athletics Competition, attracting the top sporting talent from Years 3 to 6 of primary schools throughout the region. Over two days, children will compete in a variety of events, with team trophies and prizes for the best performances.

The Change4Life Festival, which is already fully subscribed, will take place on 7th July at Great Baddow High School, aimed at bringing families and sporting clubs together, to promote the Government’s Change4Life healthy lifestyle campaign.

One school which has benefitted from the CSSP programme is Galleywood Infant School, where pupils and teachers have taken part in various competitions and PE coaching courses. Teacher Kathy Shiels has high praise for Sara, commenting:

“The Chelmsford School Sports Partnership is extremely well organised and the school has benefitted in many ways. Many of our children have developed a love of competition in sport and have taken part in inter-school cross country running, cricket and tag rugby competitions. The networking between PE teachers within the partnership is also useful, and the coaching sessions have resulted in our staff feeling more confident about teaching various sports and alternative PE classes. Overall, the children benefit from better teaching, and make much better progress in developing their skills.”

Speaking of the busy summer schedule, and the support from the partnership with Beaulieu, Sara Robson, School Games Organiser at the CSSP, comments:

“I am proud that the Chelmsford School Sport Partnership is highly-regarded by all our partnership schools, and we continue to see a great level of engagement and attendance at all our events and competitions. We are coming up to an exciting time in our programme, with three really popular events, and I am delighted that the response from schools, parents and teachers has been really positive and encouraging – it’s shaping up to be a really fun summer!

“We are delighted to have the support of Beaulieu to help us continue to deliver our ambitious programme and I’m pleased to see that what’s planned for the development in terms of facilities, parklands, cycleways and footpath fits well with our aim to encourage and enable young people in Chelmsford to lead active, healthy physical lifestyles, both in and out of school.”

Andrew Carrington, Managing Director of Strategic Land at Countryside, comments: “At Beaulieu, as with all our developments, we have placed significant emphasis on quality of life for our residents. This ensures we can deliver a range of community amenities, appropriate infrastructure, and improved transport links, as well as providing sufficient opportunities for outdoor and sporting activity, from open green spaces, to impressive new sports play areas.

“We are impressed with the vital work Sara Robson and her team carry out to help improve the health, wellbeing and sporting opportunity available to children and young adults in the area.”

Information correct at time of publication.