Roundhay School is an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ school located in Roundhay, Leeds, and Notts Sport were approached to project manage the installation of a new full size sand dressed hockey facility, overseeing planning, design, building and maintenance.
The project was developed from 2014 through to 2016 in partnership with Leeds Council, and it has allowed the school to introduce hockey into the curriculum for the first time.
In the first four months since completion of the new pitch, the school has seen over 50 girls playing hockey, a tremendous start illustrating how a synthetic turf facility has the ability to improve participation and engage a wide range of pupils.
Rachelle Le-Bourdin, PE teacher at the school was able to tailor the pitch to the school’s needs: “Working with Notts Sport was brilliant right from the beginning: they came up straight away, met with us and asked about our vision and what we needed from the pitch, so it was always about what we wanted and needed, and not ever about what they were trying to sell.
“From the brilliant initial meeting the relationship grew, and they’ve actually helped with the wider planning of an expansion at the school. They’ve been absolutely brilliant from start to finish: coming and checking that everything’s been installed properly, and helping with our opening ceremony.”
The sand dressed hockey pitch is the first of its kind in the area, meaning that it will benefit the wider community: “We’ve gone from having about 15 at hockey practice to having over 50 at every session – and that’s only the girls.
"We are hoping to get junior clubs in the community involved which means our pupils can have a bit of a school/club link going on, and sports such as hockey, football, handball can grow within the community for juniors and adults alike.”
