Community Tennis Programme in Camberley with DG Tennis
Weekly tennis sessions for primary pupils across GLF Schools’ Camberley cluster schools – Pine Ridge and Lorraine Infant Schools, and Cordwalles Junior School
Funded by the LTA Tennis Foundation
What are the issues?
Children and young people aged 5-18 should be aiming for at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day according to WHO recommendations, which in turn helps them improve their general health, gives them stronger bones and muscles, as well as higher levels of self-esteem. The WHO’s 2024 report, based on findings from 44 European countries, found that only 25% of boys and 15% of girls achieved this figure, with participation rates decreasing as children get older. Socio-economic inequalities are also evident, with children from more affluent families reporting higher levels of activity than children from more deprived families. Thus it is vital that all children get to experience energetic, inspirational and enjoyable physical activities whilst they are at school, which should give them the confidence and desire to continue an active lifestyle as they grow up.
THF has been working with GLF Schools, a multi-academy trust of 43 schools supporting over 17,000 pupils, at their Camberley cluster schools of Pine Ridge and Lorraine Infant Schools, and Cordwalles Junior School. These schools cater for around 450 pupils from 2-11 located in one of the 50% most deprived areas of the country. There is an average of 25.35% of pupils at the two infant schools and 39.9% of pupils at Cordwalles from low-income backgrounds, and 24% of all pupils have special educational needs and disabilities.
The Community Tennis Programme
THF’s Community Tennis Programme provides regular specialist coaching for every student from Year 1 onwards at the three schools from DG Tennis, whose experienced professional tennis coaches David Gill and Patrice Metzger have been delivering the programme since September 2023. The programme is a multi-year one, funded by the LTA Tennis Foundation, enabling students to experience tennis all year round. Students are able to continue their tennis journey outside the classroom by attending subsidised holiday camps at Camberley Lawn Tennis Club should they wish to pursue such opportunities. In addition to the coaches receiving all the tennis equipment required to deliver the coaching, all students were given their very own tennis racket and balls as part of the programme. As well as providing these opportunities to pupils, the funding also gives teachers the opportunity of receiving training so that they are able to help deliver sessions themselves, thus giving them the opportunity to earn CPD credits as well as making tennis more sustainable into the future. The funding has also enabled one of the professional coaches to achieve his LTA Level 2 coaching qualification, an added benefit of working with the same pupils all year round.
Coach David Gill said of the programme: “Thanks to the Tim Henman Foundation and the LTA Tennis Foundation, hundreds of children in the Camberley area have been able to play tennis and discover the joys of learning and playing this great sport. Thanks to a three-year association, it has allowed the children to progress more each year as well as offer more children the chance to play.”
Impact
The LTA Tennis Foundation is supporting the delivery of THF’s tennis programme at the Camberley schools for three years. A multi-year programme such as this has huge advantages over a single year’s programme in being able to reach more children for a longer period, thus ensuring that regular tennis sessions become part of children’s lives and help them become more active and more engaged as their skills and fitness improve. This has had a knock-on effect with children’s life skills such as leadership, sharing, working as a team, dealing with adversity and giving everything a go. By the end of the summer term 2025, around 480 pupils will have received in-school tennis lessons and lunchtime clubs during the year, with access to regular holiday camps at Camberley LTC.
Pine Ridge and Lorraine’s’ 2023-24 report for the Sport Premium Expenditure Evaluation states that the sessions were: ‘Brilliant group of sessions where the children have learnt the basic skills of tennis. This has led to some children participating in tennis clubs outside of school and during holiday camps. All children received a tennis racket and tennis balls for them to continue to develop their skills at home.’
Lucy Egan, Deputy Headteacher of Cordwalles Junior School said: ‘Engaging in the tennis programme has provided children an opportunity to learn a new skill over an extended amount of time with an experienced coach. The combination of structured PE lessons, as well as a lunchtime club has given the children the chance to develop skills in both formal and informal contexts and this has helped them to grow to love tennis. Having an experienced coach leading the sessions has developed our teachers’ knowledge of tennis and given them more confidence in delivering effective PE lessons in the future. Lessons are active and fun and the children have expressed interest in playing more tennis outside of school as a result!’
THF CEO Jamie Feaver said: ‘With thanks to the LTA Tennis Foundation we are able to grow our Community Tennis Programme at this cluster of Camberley schools and deliver regular coaching with other great opportunities. These are delivered in some of the most deprived communities in the country. To be able to have the support for three years provides valuable security for us as a charity, for the schools we work with and most importantly to the children who know they will get their regular tennis without barriers.’