LP Girls Can Week 2023!

At Leighton Park we are passionate about inclusive sport as well as inspiring a sustained love of physical movement and mental wellbeing through a variety of exercise.

Established in 2017 and associated with Sport England’s national ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, LP Girls Can Week is just one of the School’s initiatives to tackle the significant drop-out rate of girls from Sport during adolescence. Responding to this national issue, which has long term consequences for mental and physical health, LP Girls Can is an event that has inspired camaraderie and confidence amongst our students since its inception. Our students are encouraged by the exciting programme, put together annually by Zoe MacPherson, PE & Games teacher, to come together, try out new pursuits and hear from trailblazing women in the world of sport.

This week we have welcomed Old Leightonians and University of Bath students, Tabby Tinniswood and Ellie Pearson coaching hockey and football respectively. We have celebrated the completion of the National Association of Teachers of Dance (NATD) Grade 5, Grade 6 and Annual Performance Award examinations. We have had GB Olympic Judo athlete, Danny Williams, coach our Fryer girls and we have run a training session for our senior students with Fabby Fabunmi, Old Leightonian and GB Bobsleigh team member. Fabby and Paralympic Swimmer, Stephanie Millward, also delivered Collects to the whole school community, providing inspiration and sound advice for life on the value of sport, determination and perseverance.

Speaking about the event, Zoe enthused, “This is the sixth year I’ve run LP Girls Can Week which is made up of sessions from different inspiration athletes,who have different backgrounds and stories. When it gets to year 11 the drop out rate from girls’ sport is huge. It will hopefully It’s a great experience for all the girls to experience new sport which will encourage them to get into clubs and exercise beyond school. This will help with their general health, their mental health and their body image which a lot of them do worry about.”

Stephanie Millward MBE commented “LP Girls Can Week gives people hope. It gives people opportunities to try something different, to believe in themselves. It’s a fantastic week. It gives people more ideas, different ways to move on with their lives. They get to enjoy all sorts of wonderful things; I wish I had that when I was younger!”

Tabby Tinniswood was pleased to be back on the Park, visiting from the University of Bath where she is taking her Sport Science degree, “I think sport is a really important thing generally. Women don’t always have the better opportunities or they don’t get as prioritised as the boys necessarily, although that has changed so much in the last few years. The ‘This Girl Can’ campaign is a massive thing that boosts and encourages that.  The fact that LP has its own week where they specialise in all different kinds of sports for the girls in the community is amazing.” Fellow Old Leightonian, Ellie Pearson, also at Bath University agreed saying “For something like Football that has grown so much over the last few years it’s important to have the opportunity to have a go. It’s great for their confidence and for their communication with others.”

Olympic GB Judo champion, Danny Williams reflected, “Judo is actually the first Olympic combat sport to have women competing which started in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The first women’s event for boxing was 2012 so you can see that Judo was quite far ahead. Great Britain has a fantastic women’s team one of the world’s leading squads for international Judo so we’ve got a good heritage.  It’s great that the LP girls get to try it out.”

Margot (Year 10) recognises this too, reflecting “It’s important to have more female representation in sport and to try new things that you might not have the chance to try in normal school.”

We recognise and value those students within our School who identify as male or non-binary and are keen to ensure that no-one who wishes to participate feels excluded. Please be assured that all opportunities scheduled for LP Girls Can Week have been open to anyone who wishes to join in.