Autonomy. Belonging. Competence.

Bespoke PE and sports coaching for schools in Bath and North East Somerset, Greater Bristol and Wiltshire.

Ignite Sport design and deliver bespoke physical education, sports coaching and mentoring packages for schools in Bath and North East Somerset, Greater Bristol and Wiltshire. We tailor our provision based on each school’s needs and context to maximise impact and value.

As a child-centred company, our overarching aim is to develop every child’s physical literacy by helping them to build a positive relationship with movement, physical activity and sport. Active children are healthier, happier, can concentrate for longer and learn more easily.

Through high-quality teaching and coaching, we strive to ignite a love of physical activity and sport in every child. We build self-efficacy by creating learning environments that encourage and enable autonomy, create a sense of belonging and deliver appropriate challenge to develop every child’s physical competence.

Our approach is to focus on teaching the individual more than the activity or sport so that children are engaged and become more active because they want to rather than because they are being told to.

Our delivery team are either qualified teachers, higher level teaching assistants or experienced level 2 and above sports coaches who share a belief that there is at least one sport/activity for every child. We believe the key is providing a wide range of activities and sports delivered by brilliant people. We provide schools with a consistent head coach for all their provision. This ensures that the pupils feel safe and build positive relationships with their coach. From a school perspective the consistent head coach facilitates clear and effective communication.

To complement our head coaches we employ dance and gymnastics coaches to share their passion and expertise for these more specialist sports.

What we offer

  • Our PE provision provides schools with high-quality and 100% reliable cover for teachers’ planning, preparation and assessment time. Our schemes of work focus on delivering the fundamentals of movement and core transferable sports skills in KS1 before introducing more complex gross motor skills and sport specific skills, tactics and rules as they progress through KS2. We have successfully supported schools to be Ofsted ready including schools that have chosen PE as a deep dive subject.

  • We support the understanding and confidence of school staff through either our teacher mentoring programme using a team-teaching approach or through twilight or inset day CPD workshops. Using a structured yet flexible format, our teacher mentoring, delivered alongside the class teachers each week in their PE lessons, supports and empowers school staff to plan and independently deliver outstanding PE.

  • Using sport and physical activity to connect and engage, our alternative provision focuses on early intervention pupil mentoring in-school. Our aim is to support the child’s sense of belonging as well as their attendance, academic attainment and personal development. We endeavour to support schools to be more inclusive and help them to keep pupils in mainstream education, wherever possible.

    We support pupils who may be experiencing one or more of the following:

    • difficulties at home

    • find the school setting challenging

    • struggle socially

    • have low self-confidence

    • lack resilience

    • need that bit of extra support

    • need something to look forward to each week to make their school life a more positive experience

  • Our lunch club offering is broad and can be flexible on a day by day and/or term by term basis. Below are some of the lunch clubs we have successfully delivered in schools:

    • Targeted groups to improve, for example, social skills, self-confidence or physical literacy

    • Preparation for inter-school tournaments

    • House competitions and leagues

    • Teaching and supporting young sports leaders to deliver activities

    • Safe and structured activities to ensure play is positive and potential disputes are resolved quickly and do not spill into the classroom

  • Focusing on providing a fun experience, our after school sports clubs provide an extended opportunity for children to move and take part in their favourite sports and activities. Through a game sense coaching style, we maximise the time that the children are physically active whilst developing their physical literacy and love of sport.

  • Our breakfast club provision supports parents and carers with childcare, as well as offering children a healthy, nutritious breakfast and time to be physically active with their friends. Research shows that a healthy breakfast supported by physical activity can help regulate emotions, improve memory, and cognitive function, leading to better learning.

  • Based at our partner schools, our holiday sports camps provide opportunities for your pupils to be physically active during the school holidays whilst developing their social skills. Our camps are structured to give the children a say in what activities and sports are delivered. Our coaches ensure that the environment is safe and inclusive.

    Our sports camps provide an important source of income for our partner schools as we pay rental fees to use their facilities during the school holidays.

  • We offer flexible solutions for secondary schools’ PE and sport needs including covering teacher vacancies, maternity and long-term sickness cover, specialist coaching and workshops.

  • I have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing and working with Tom since 2018. From our very first conversation, I knew the partnership between him and my school would be outstanding. His passion, knowledge, discipline and dedication to improve the quality and impact of the service provided for the whole school were incredible. Throughout our 6-year partnership, Tom was loyal, trustworthy and honest, the service and provision he provided Filton Avenue was phenomenal – 100% delivery of sessions, support with whole school enrichment, incredible CPD for the whole team and teaching mentoring for 21 teachers. His openness allowed for flexibility to meet the needs of our school and children; he listened and adapted, which allowed for a brilliant partnership which created a passion and love for sport across the school. I can’t wait to work with Tom again in his new chapter at Ignite Sport.

    Steve Pavey - PE Lead

  • From the very start of the Bristol Sport Foundation's programme ten years ago, Tom's leadership as our Head Coach was a big part of helping our school transform its sports provision. He brought an enthusiasm and passion for sport, inspiring children of all abilities. Tom's well-structured and engaging lessons significantly improved our pupils' physical literacy and confidence and ignited a genuine love for physical activity. There isn't a child in the school who doesn't love Jail Break! We saw an increase in participation in lunch and after-school clubs, as well as the number of pupils eager to represent the school in competitive sports. Beyond his coaching skills, Tom built strong, positive relationships with our staff. His excellent communication and collaborative approach ensured the programme integrated with our school's needs and context. With Tom's support, we have developed a thriving sports culture at Chew Stoke, and our pupils are benefitting from a high-quality PE experience.

    Ben Hewett - Headteacher and Vicki Hennessy - Deputy Headteacher - Chew Stoke Church School

  • Tom has led our school provision for many years now and the professionalism, quality of teaching and natural rapport with the children has been an asset to our PPA cover timetable. As a team they have provided varied physical activities, engaging lessons where the children are excited to develop their skills. The head coach model has provided stability throughout the years, enabling the children to have a familiar face who works within our behaviour policy and can build strong relationships with all of our children. The coaches check in with teachers and leadership regularly to ensure they are aware of individual needs and feedback with any concerns or celebrations that they have. The feedback from students and parents alike has been overwhelmingly positive and they have been instrumental in building our school’s sporting community.

    Danielle West-Gaul - Headteacher - St. John's C. of E. Primary School, Midsomer Norton

  • As someone who values the whole school impact that high quality PE and sport can have on children of all abilities, I take my choice of sports coaching provider very seriously. I met Tom in 2011 and I instantly knew I'd met someone who was able to fully embrace and support my passion for using PE and sport to achieve great things within a Primary setting. Three schools later, our working partnership has grown and evolved. Over the past six years, he has supported me in creating a sense of belonging and community at Coniston Primary School. In that time, we have had exceptional Ofsted 'deep dive' feedback for our PE, 100% delivery of high-quality PE sessions delivered by a well-trained and highly motivated coaching team. The personal, partnership approach, the quality of regular CPD for teachers during PE lessons and the consistent effort to improve the quality of the service provided all set Tom and his team apart from any other service I have used in my 25 years in education.

    Alan Walters - Headteacher - Coniston Primary School

  • Tom Monks coached me basketball, dodgeball, cricket, tag rugby and hockey when I was in Years 4, 5 and 6 at Chew Stoke Church School. He was very friendly, kind and encouraging which helped me to grow in confidence when playing sport. His PE lessons always seemed really well planned with a focus on fun and lots of activity - I loved them! He guided and inspired me to learn many skills that I have taken with me in life. I am currently studying a BTEC level 3 in sports coaching, and following two years as a volunteer football coach, I now work part-time (alongside studying) for Bristol City as a paid coach. Tom was a great role model for me growing up.

    Katie Whitmarsh - age 18
    Former Chew Stoke Church School pupil

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