Opening School Facilities (OSF) continues to make a huge impact across Oxfordshire. Since launching, OSF funding has benefited 39 schools, reaching over 3,800 children and young people and 800 local residents.The OSF programme is a 3-year investment of £500,000, led by North Oxfordshire School Sport Partnership together with a wide range of partners.

We were delighted to host a visit from the Active Partnerships National Organisation in October 2024, to see the superb work taking place through OSF funding in Blackbird Leys, East Oxford.

Stark inequalities

Blackbird Leys is an area facing serious inequalities and is one of our highest priority areas in Oxfordshire. A child born in Blackbird Leys will live 13 years less on average than a child born in the most affluent parts of Oxfordshire. Blackbird Leys also has the highest prevalence of children classified as overweight (including obesity) in Year 6 in Oxfordshire.

By working together in a place-based, targeted way, we are able to make a real difference to children and young people in Blackbird Leys – and OSF is a key part of this.

A fresh approach to helping children learn to swim

First, we visited St John Fisher School in Blackbird Leys, who have received OSF funding for a pop-up pool on-site – a truly innovative approach to helping all their children learn to swim and be safe near water. This is much needed. There are shocking swimming inequalities playing out across the county, and we heard about children in St John Fisher School who had never been in a pool before the pop-up pool arrived.

We spoke to Headteacher Mr Higgins who told us that every child in their school, from nursery all the way through to Year 6, is using the pool. Children's confidence and safety in and around water is being transformed, as in concentration levels and readiness to learn. Importantly, children are getting so much confidence in the pop-up pool that they go on to swim locally and develop their skills even further.

Trailblazing sensory circuits through OSF funding

Next up was Orchard Meadow School in Blackbird Leys. Here, OSF funding is being used to increase activity for children and the wider community in so many different ways, including sensory circuits to support children with SEND. Sensory circuits is an active, physical programme designed to support sensory processing and self-regulation in children.

Executive Headteacher Claire Ferens told us that thanks to engaging with the sensory circuits, the children were much more relaxed, more focused and had higher levels of engagement in class, and were ready and able to learn. Other significant benefits are improved happiness and a higher attendance at school. Orchard Meadow School has received OSF funding over the last three years, and this funding is having a significant, long-lasting impact. The sensory circuits learning is now being shared right across the county so that hundreds more children can benefit.

Joined-up approach to place-based working

OSF funding is forming a key part of the wider place-based approach to increasing activity in Blackbird Leys. Many of the children who attend St John Fisher and Orchard Meadow Schools will also benefit from YouMove, a programme for families on low incomes. Residents in Blackbird Leys are also benefiting from Community Active Travel funding, to increase walking and wheeling and are helping to create more active places through our Active Neighbourhood Scans. And it's this joined-up, collaborative approach that will make the biggest difference to tackling these stark inequalities and giving children the active start in life that they deserve.

The Opening School Facilities programme is funded by the Department for Education and facilitated by Active Partnerships in collaboration with Street Games, ukactive and Youth Sport Trust. More than 1,500 schools have received funding nation-wide which has led to more than 170,000 children and young people and 57,000 people from local communities taking part in OSF activities. Find out more here: Opening School Facilities - Active Partnerships