Homewood Girls Can

During the week beginning 26^th September, Homewood School’s PE Department hosted their annual ‘This Girl Can’ event, involving all Year 9 girls. Led by Sport England, ‘This Girl Can’ is the first campaign aimed at inspiring women of all ages, shapes, sizes and sporting abilities.  The campaign celebrates women who are active in sport no matter how they look, how well they do or how sweaty they get. The aim is to challenge the conventional idea of sport and exercise and reach out to women of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

This year has been a particular highlight for women’s sport following the England Football team’s Euros triumphant win in the Summer. The Lionesses are exceptional role models for women and girls.

Kicking off this year’s campaign, on Monday 26^th September Year 9 girls were given the superb opportunity to participate in a whole day of activities surrounding the ‘This Girl Can’ initiative. A competitive element became apparent as the students were grouped in their Communities and a leader board was published daily. Competition was strong as they worked through a rotation of structured workshops and activities throughout the day. Taster sessions included Zumba, self-defence, a resilience and self-confidence workshop, as well as a Careers session, all led by external qualified coaches. The Army joined us on Tuesday to lead our Year 11 girls in a series of team building activities on the field and provided a careers presentation in the Sports Hall.

An impressive array of activities throughout the week also included handball, table tennis, trampolining, KIN ball, badminton, football, rugby, netball, cheerleading, body pump, dodgeball, bench ball, fitness, dance and swimming.

Nancy, a Year 9 student tells us, “The activities during the ‘This Girl Can’ week have completely built up my confidence. Many of my friends have also really enjoyed participating in the workshops and activities.”

PE Teacher and organiser of the event, Miss Kat Beament also says, “I am so proud of the girls. There has been a real positive buzz around the school and it has been great to see the girls step out of their comfort zones and have the confidence to try new sports and exercise.”

The event was packed with positivity and fun, as well as opportunities to create new friendships and try new forms of exercise and activities. Congratulations to the Voyager Community who won overall. Thank you to all the external coaches, the Army, Homewood staff and most importantly the students who made this year’s event so successful. We look forward to next year!