Leisure Centres

School and community sports sites development

• New sports facilities for schools and community
• New Community Sports Development Officer
• Playground Improvements
• Activity programmes and courses

New sports facilities for schools and community

Four new outdoor sports facilities built at school sites across the Borough are finished and ready for use by schools and by the local community. The sites at Trinity, Hurstmere, Westwood and Woodside Schools have gained around £2 million of financial backing from the Big Lottery Fund, through the former New Opportunities for PE and Sport (NOPES) programme. Completion of the project will be realised in Spring 2006 when the final site, a hydrotherapy pool at Marlborough Special School, opens for use.

The scheme has an important role to play in increasing participation in sports and physical activity in Bexley. The projects have received funding because of the massive potential for community use, in addition to use by the schools themselves.

For more information about each of the sites or for details of how to book any of the facilities for use outside of normal school hours, please see below.

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New Community Sports Development Officer

In addition to the building of the facilities the Big Lottery has also funded a new Community Sports Development Officer who is working to ensure maximum use at each of the sites. She will also be working to set up coach education courses at the sites. If there is anything you would like to see running at these new facilities, or if you have any questions about the sites, please contact Laura Harvey on: 020 8294 6992 or email at laura.harvey@bexley.gov.uk.

Trinity School Hurstmere School Hurstmere School Launch Woodside School Westwood Technology College Westwood Technology College Westwood Technology College

Trinity School

The fabulous new floodlit multi-use games area at Trinity School in Belvedere is a three-quarter sized sand-filled synthetic turf pitch. It is marked for 5-a-side football, hockey, tennis and netball. The pitch is seen as a tremendous asset for Trinity School, the former host for one of Bexley's two School Sports Partnerships. It allows for school sports such as football and hockey to be played outside through the winter, when before it was simply too dark to do so. It is hoped that it will be fully utilised by the community in the evenings and at weekends, and that this use will complement the community sports sessions already running in the in the school sports hall.

• Trinity School, Erith Rd, Belvedere, Kent, DA17 6HT
• 01322 441371

Hurstmere School for Boys and Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School

The full sized synthetic turf pitch is built on a site shared by Hurstmere School for Boys and Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School. It is an impressive facility and is already benefiting over 2000 pupils from the two schools. It is envisaged that the facility will also be of benefit to thousands of community visitors each year as well as local hockey and football teams, who are already making great use of it.

• Hurstmere School for Boys, Hurst Rd, Sidcup, Kent, DA15 9AW
  Contact name: Deborah Bakewell
• 0208 300 5665

Woodside School

Woodside School now have a multi-use games area (MUGA) that has a rubberised surface and a removable divider between the two courts/pitches. The MUGA can accommodate a variety of sports, including football, netball, basketball and tennis. It is floodlit so can be used in the evening all year round and is a real boost to the new host for one of Bexley's two School Sports Partnerships. Pupils are enjoying using the facility and the design is making it easy for two groups to work simultaneously on the separated areas. To hire the facility for community use, please contact the school using the details given below.

• Woodside School, Halt Robin Road, Belvedere, Kent, DA17 6DW
  Contact name: Phil Clarke
• 01322 433494 / 07867 725615

Westwood Technology College

Westwood Technology College is now the proud owner of a fantastic new floodlit Multi-Use Games Area. The MUGA has radically improved the school's sports facilities, providing space for a host of sports, including tennis, netball, basketball and football on a quality surface. It is available for community use, and as a boost, the existing sports hall has been opened up for community use as well.

• Westwood Technology College, The Green, Welling, Kent, DA16 2PE
  Contact name: Gary Weston
• 0208 301 9160 / 0770 908 4369

Marlborough School - Coming Soon!

In addition to the outdoor facilities around Bexley, Marlborough School will house perhaps the most ambitious development. On completion the school will have a hydrotherapy pool with changing facilities for disabled users as well as a physiotherapy/treatment room. In total the project will have cost over three quarters of a million pounds. It is testament to the hard work of the school that a substantial amount of money had already been raised before the Big Lottery grant was awarded.

Marlborough is a special school that caters for children with severe physical disabilities and a hydrotherapy pool will further enable regular exercise to provide the flexibility needed to enable muscles to develop and improve coordination. This fantastic facility will be open to the community and so will be of benefit to the lives of many disabled children, young people and adults.

• Marlborough School, Marlborough Park Avenue, Sidcup, Kent, DA15 9DP
• 020 8300 6896

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Playground Improvements

In addition to the five core projects, the Big Lottery Fund money is also being used to improve playgrounds at six schools. Oakwood School, Hillsgrove Primary, Belmont Primary, Normandy Primary, Lessness Heath Primary and Gravel Hill Primary have all benefited through the scheme. Some of the playgrounds were resurfaced and then all were marked with thermoplastic markings. Added extras on the sites include new goals and posts, target boards on walls and board games on walls and tabletops. The new markings have resulted in much more constructive playtimes at all the six sites where the children can now engage in a variety of activities.

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Activity programmes and courses

As part of the Big Lottery Funded project the new sports facilities will be hosting several coaching sessions in the evenings and during school holidays. To date courses have been developed for hockey, football, netball, basketball and tennis, with some sessions restricted to pupils from the schools themselves and others open to all Bexley residents.