This week we hosted 36 netball teams at the Plymouth Life Centre for our PSSP Primary Netball Festivals with 300 young people taking part over the 3 days of netball activity.

The week started on Monday with our Fun Festival for students who had no prior experience of netball.  The format of the day was skills-based sessions run by our amazing leaders from Notre Dame, which then led onto mini games to see how the skills linked together.  Eleven schools attended with 12 teams, 100 young players and 12 young leaders.  The leaders had completed the Netball Young Leaders and Officiating Award in December to prepare for the event.

On Wednesday, we held our Development Festival which was for schools who had started to play netball but wanted to play coached games supported by staff to develop knowledge of the rules and positional awareness.  Nine young umpires from Coombe Dean attended the event to officiate the games and to help the young players to understand and enjoy netball.  We hosted 14 teams from 14 schools with 120 young players.

The final event of the week was on Thursday where we hosted our Competitive Festival attended by 10 teams from 10 schools with 80 young players attending.  This event was for those schools who have more experience of playing netball and wanted to play competitive games against other schools.  The games were umpired by 12 young leaders from Notre Dame.

Thank you to all those who worked so hard to get the children to the event including staff and parents who provided transport and to those who walked.  Also, a big thank you to Notre Dame and Coombe Dean and their netball leaders. 

Wednesday 17th December 2025 – Today was a shining example of Girl Power! Our termly PSSP Inclusive Football event just for girls was hosted by an all-female team of Sports Leaders from Stoke Damerel. We have 7 schools with us today, prepared to face the weather to take part in our friendly round-robin tournament. Represented today was Courtlands, Yealmpstone Farm, Beechwood, Pilgrim, Knowle, Mount Street and College Road. This event is aimed at promoting teamwork, respect and most importantly – having lots of fun! Speaking to the teams on arrival, a number of children told me that they were nervous but I think these lasted about 30 seconds into the first game and then it was smiles all-round. One of the girls who had spoke to me at the beginning said ‘this is awesome’ as she sprinted past me! I certainly this so too – it is fantastic to see what girls can do and how much fun we can have playing together. Our Sports Leaders did an amazing job as always (thank you ladies) of refereeing and scoring. At the end of the event, all of the scores are tallied and we do a presentation back inside in the warm. Congratulations to Pilgrim who were our overall winners today and to College Road who were right on their heals in runner-up position. Well done to everyone who played today – you represented your schools admirably and above all, I really hope you had fun. I look forward to seeing you at another PSSP event coming up in 2026! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from team PSSP.

Mrs Claire Cormack

PE Specialist Teacher

Plymouth School Sports Partnership

One of our most popular events of the year is the PSSP Primary dodgeball festival held at the Plymouth Life Centre. This festival emphasises on fun and being active with a Christmas element as some children wore their best Christmas jumpers and we had Christmas music on all afternoon! We welcomed 13 teams this year bringing up to 10 children per team. After a quick introduction and discussion around the rules the games began. There was some great dodgeball on display and some honesty shown by the children when they were called ‘out’. Teams rotated around the courts to play around 8 games each! The games were roughly around 10 minutes and there were some very hot and sweaty faces by the end. Even some of the teachers joined in on the fun. A huge thank you to Stoke Damerel Secondary school for providing some great referees for the festival. Can’t wait to do it all again next year!

Wednesday 03rd December 2025 – Today was our termly Girls only PSSP Inclusive Football event for Secondary age students in mainstream and special schools. Run by girls for girls this event is new to our calendar this year but is already growing in popularity. Representing their schools today were students from Plympton Academy, Tor Bridge High and Devonport High School for Girls. When the teams arrived we quickly went through the focus of the morning – in that this event is really about celebrating women and girls in sport and taking pride in representing their schools. Our all-female team of Sports Leaders from Stoke Damerel were on hand to referee and score all of the games for us. They did a fantastic job as always and the games all ran smoothly and everyone had a good time. Although this event is not really about the competitive element, we do keep scores and at the end of the event, everyone receives a well-earned certificate and we celebrate our achievements. This event is a round-robin so every school gets to play all of the others. 5 points are awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw and 1 point for a loss. Congratulations to Devonport High School for Girls who were the overall winners today. Well done to everyone who took part though – it was a great event and you all played brilliantly. I’m looking forward to seeing you all at our next one. Check out the PSSP website for upcoming events.

Position Team Points

1st       DHSG 15

2nd     Tor Bridge 11

3rd       Plympton Academy ‘B’ 7

4th      Plympton Academy ‘A’ 3

Mrs Claire Cormack

PE Specialist Teacher

Plymouth School Sports Partnership

WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN TERM—DEVON INCLUSION NEWSLETTER

Wednesday 19th November 2025 – Even the forecast for snow couldn’t keep some of our PSSP schools away this morning for our termly Inclusion Football event. Cann Bridge, Tor Bridge, Stoke Damerel and Plympton Academy all came along to take part in our friendly tournament which focuses on Teamwork, Respect and fun. We have a slightly different format that we utilise to support one player on each team: down either side of the pitch, we create a channel which means that 1 player can play unopposed and support their team from there. This works incredibly well to develop confidence and as a team tactic. Throughout the morning, we use a round-robin format so that each team gets to play everyone else. 5 points are awarded for a win/ 3 points for a draw and 1 point for a loss. We are incredibly fortunate at these event to be supported by the amazing Sports Leadership students from Stoke Damerel – they referee and score all of our games as well as supporting the teams and making sure the event runs smoothly, so everyone can have a good time. At the end of the morning, when all the games have been played, it is my pleasure to announce the results… congratulations to Stoke Damerel, who were our overall winners today and well done to everyone who took part – you played brilliantly and represented your schools admirably – well done everyone. Thank you to all the teachers who braved the cold with me so that the event could go ahead. I’m already looking forward to our Girls only event coming up later this term – check out the PSSP website and make sure you are booked on. 

Mrs Claire Cormack 

PE Specialist Teacher  - Plymouth School Sports Partnership.