St Joseph's Boys' School PTA Equipment Campaign

Aim

This project will allow us to successfully plan and deliver social, leisure, and extracurricular opportunities for our pupils and community.

Our School

St Joseph's Boys' School is a non-selective, Catholic Maintained, all-ability school in the Parish of Templemore which encompasses the St Eugene’s and Longtower Parishes within the Diocese of Derry. The school was established in 1963 and has a recognised reputation of providing post–primary education for boys predominantly in the Templemore, St Mary’s Creggan, Holy family Ballymagroarty, and Three Patrons parishes.

The school also has smaller intakes from the Parish of the Assumption, Culmore and some Waterside parishes since the closure of the Immaculate Conception College.

The school has 560 pupils on the roll at present ranging from 11-18 years of age. The school caters for boys only but also welcomes applications from female students wishing to join at sixth form as part of the Foyle Learning Community consortium.

Our Charitable PTA 

Our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is made up of volunteer parents, carers, friends, and teachers who work together to support our school. We organise various fundraising and social events throughout the year with all money raised going straight back into school for the benefit of our children and the wider community.

Our COVID-19 Struggle

Since the beginning of March 2020, all face-to-face contact had stopped, with interaction between teachers and pupils transferring to a digital nature. Coupled with this, all PTA programme delivery had been halted, with upcoming fundraising initiatives postponed, and other social events cancelled to stay in line with the guidelines at the time.

This had a negative impact on the health of all involved with the school, both physically, due to a lack of regular sporting activity, and mentally, as many were shielding and were home alone and felt isolated. During this difficult time, our staff and pupils had recognised the importance of face-to-face contact, as well as the integral role the PTA offers at the school in terms of social and sporting provision.

Now that the COVID-19 restrictions have eased, face-to-face contact has resumed, and our PTA are actively scheduling, planning, and delivering a range of social events and activities for the betterment of those residing within our catchment area. An example of this would be this project – St Joseph's PTA Sports Equipment Fundraiser.

Our Project

Through 2023 and beyond, we intend to deliver a basketball programme with the objectives to train, develop and support our PE staff and pupils/participants. Therefore, our programme aims to provide daily lunchtime outdoor and weekly after-school indoor basketball activities to our students. These activities will differ from our regular activities because of their extracurricular nature, and their focus on additional skills and knowledge that can be achieved through participation.

Basketball is a popular and growing sport among our students, and we believe that offering extra regular opportunities to play will benefit their physical health, teamwork skills, and overall well-being. With the funding we are requesting, we will be able to provide equipment, and enhance existing facilities to support this programme.

We believe that our basketball programme will have a significant positive impact on our students' lives. By participating in this programme, our students will have the opportunity to develop their physical fitness, teamwork skills, and leadership abilities. They will also have the chance to continue to develop friendships and social connections with their peers, which will contribute to their overall well-being.

As per the video on our profile page, it is clear to see that our existing basketball facilities, particularly the backboards and rings both indoors and outdoors are simply not fit for purpose. With these facilities being within a state of disrepair, it is preventing us from the following-

1. Maximising facility usage

2. Providing a diverse range of physical activity opportunities to our pupils

3. Responding to COVID-19, given the long periods of isolation across a 2-year period since March 2020

4. Improving the skill sets of those interested in taking part in Basketball themed activities

5. Growing our PTA to a consistent level that can withstand the increase in demand post-COVID

With that said, we require balls and new backboard/hoops for the students to use during this time, and we will have staff members supervising to ensure safe play. 

Our daily lunchtime outdoor basketball activities will take place in our school's outdoor basketball court, and our weekly after-school indoor basketball activities will take place in our school's gymnasium. A qualified basketball coach will lead these sessions. All these sessions are extra to the existing opportunities available to play basketball during PE lessons.

Of our £2,917.58 fundraising target we expect the project to require:

-Harrod Heavy Duty Goals Steel Practice Size Backboards x 4 = £1,863.20

-NET1 Millennium Portable Basketball System x 2 = £923.28

-Size 7 Baden basketballs x 10 = £84.90

-Size 7 Albion Basketballs x 10 = £46.20

This project successfully funded on 2nd June 2023