Access Sport continued its outreach work by delivering inclusive Boccia sessions at Briarwood SEN School in Bristol. This has provided students from the main school and the post-16 dept. with the opportunity to play an inclusive sport every week.

For many of the participants this was their first experience of playing Boccia so the intensity of the sessions reflected this ensuring that all the participants were comfortable using the equipment before developing in to playing games. All the activities aimed to be fun and inclusive as well as encouraging the group to become more independent when playing and to challenge themselves. Many of the young people often worked 1 to 1 with the great teaching assistants who often joined in during games and supported the young people with aiming and movement. Many of the TA’s expressed how important sporting opportunities like this are to the young people. “The work you guys do is really fantastic, you can clearly see the impact these sessions have with the young people and how happy they are." 

           

Over the many weeks delivering sessions at Briarwood, the participants progressed so much with some of them taking the responsibility of positioning their own ramp and trying different methods of throwing. All coaches progressed with their own personal development as many of the TA’s stated how much the participants and coaches had improved over the 3 months of Boccia sessions.  “To see how far the young people have come in terms of their skill level from the Boccia sessions is amazing, as well as what us (the staff) have got from this. It is also brilliant to see how your skills (the coaches) and confidence working with the young people have developed and grown.”

After developing a successful partnership with Briarwood School, Access Sport's Ignite Programme is looking forward to delivering more Boccia sessions with them next term!

If you would like to find out more about Boccia in Bristol please contact Julia Williams on 0117 941 5829 or [email protected].