William Ransom is proud to be an active school that provides an inclusive P.E. curriculum (See here: William Ransom Primary School - Physical Education) as well as a very strong range of extra-curricular activities to engage and stretch all children. Children at William Ransom love being active and PE and school sport is highly valued within our school community.

We use our ring-fenced government sports grant (£19,590 over 2023-24) to support the delivery and provision of P.E. and school sport.

Physical activity

Each class takes part in The Daily Mile, encouraging regular exercise and developing the aerobic fitness levels of our children, while also promoting personal goal-setting, growth mind-set and aspiration in sports. We see the impact of this growth mind-set across the children’s attitudes to learning in all subjects.

A growing number of our children walk, cycle or scooter to school each day and we are committed to developing healthier lifestyles for all of our children.  All children in Years 3 and 4 will participate in a half term's worth of weekly hour long swimming lessons. By the summer of 2024, 73% of our Year 4 children had already achieved the National Curriculum standard and all of those that haven't yet achieved it are offered a week's worth of daily intensive swimming lessons during holiday periods, completely free of charge over Year 5 and 6.

Inclusivity

Inclusion is central to our sporting ethos, so clubs are carefully planned and delivered to ensure all children have the opportunity to participate actively and experience success. A high number of our SEND children take part within our clubs and we have an ongoing commitment to extending these opportunities even further as the 24-25 year progresses.

Clubs

We offer a wide (and changing) range of sports for the children to participate in, at lunchtime and after school, which help children to understand the importance of an active lifestyle and associated health benefits. These sports are planned carefully to build skills progressively across the school and to foster a love and enjoyment of being physically activite. Many of these clubs for KS2 then allow children the opportunity to go on and experience competitive opportunities within our local sports' partnership.

Lunchtime clubs are available for all year groups (EYFS start in the Spring Term once they are fully settled in) and offer a diverse range of activities. The available clubs for each term are available here: 

Opportunities - festivals / leagues / tournaments

We enter a large number of festivals each year; the focus on being enjoyment, inclusivity, opportunity and the privilege of representing one's school. These start in Year 1 with multisports and extend through every year group, including sports such as tag rugby, speed-stacking, Paralympic sports, dance, tennis and skateboarding, to name a few. In addition, we enter numerous competitions throughout the year, including benchball, cross country running, sportshall athletics, dodgeball and basketball.

In addition to the many sports partnership opportunities, we also take part in the Hitchin football and netball leagues, we host Year 3&4 inter-school football tournaments, enter the local summer cricket league and enter nationwide events such as Sport Relief, National School Sports Week and Women's Football Day.

Sports Day

We hold an annual Sports Day for EYFS, KS1 and KS2, which look to encompass  a mixture of group events, working on fitness and team work, as well as the more traditional races. This mixture of styles allows all our children to achieve; working towards a shared goal to win the all important 'House Cup' as well as allowing those who thrive in a competitive sporting environment to have their time in the lime light. This is a great chance at the end of the sporting year to work on the life skills of: winning and losing, team work towards a shared goal, resilience and sporting spirit.

Sports leadership

Sports Leaders are trained in Year 5 and following this, many Year 5 and 6 children co-run the lunchtime sports clubs; helping to encourage, coach, referee and mentor the younger children in the school. Later in the school year, they run inter-house tournaments and organise assemblies to further their skill sets and improve opportunities throughout the school.

Outside school sporting achievements

We love to celebrate all kinds of sporting activity at WR! Between our two school buildings is a huge display board titled 'Celebrating sport at WR!' and (as reminded weekly on the school newsletter) parents and carers are encourage to share a sorting achievement that their child has accomplished. Anything from trying a new club, to overcoming a fear is celebrated. We've had all sorts of sports sent in; from rock climbing, canoeing, swimming, mountain biking, skiing to street dance. Don't forget to email any pictures you have to sport@wransom.herts.sch.uk