A multi-million pound Lottery scheme has helped transform PE and Sport provision for pupils in the Western Education and Library Board area, and in the wider community in Fermanagh. These were among the findings of a survey published by the Big Lottery Fund.
"Attendance at physical education lessons", a spokeswoman explained, " has increased in some schools in the Board area by an average of 30 minutes a week, an increase of around 50% for some projects. And, more community groups are using the state-of-the-art facilities that have been built in schools and communities through the Big Lottery Fund's PE and Sport programme".
For instance, the Erne Integrated College in Enniskillen, received over £860,000 towards the town's only synthetic turf pitch and, already, it has made a major difference to pupils and the wider community.
Sharon McKee, Head of PE, explained: "It's great to have a facility like this. It's a huge bonus for us. Before, our facilities were adequate at best but, this pitch actually looks 21st century,".
The Big Lottery Fund has pumped more than £33 million into creating 135 state-of-the-art sports facilities in schools and communities across Northern Ireland. It represents one of the largest-ever Lottery-backed sports facilities programme here.
More than £6.7 million of this helped develop 22 sports projects across the Western Education and Library Board area, creating a range of facilities that include sports halls, an outdoor adventure facility and play areas.
The evaluation carried out on behalf of the Big Lottery Fund has revealed that the pupils are now accessing more PE and sport classes than before. Attendance at lunchtime extra curricular activities in Northern Ireland has increased by 67% for boys, and 38% for girls.
Many more community groups are also using the new facilities, with many local sports clubs taking part in sports activities at the school-based venues in the evening and at weekends.
Breidge Gadd, the Big Lottery Fund NI Board Member, said she had seen at first hand the difference these projects had made to pupils and the wider community. The PE and Sport programme, she added, had had a dramatic and positive impact on the quantity and quality of PE and sport offered, with an increase in extra curricular activities.
At the Erne Integrated College, the main objective in applying for funding, according to Sharon McKee, was to increase and enhance pupils' participation in sport.
"With the nearest Astroturf pitch 10 miles away, valuable PE time was being wasted travelling, so we wanted to develop more after-schools sports for pupils but, we also wanted the facility used by the wider community. We have been flabbergasted by the response."
She reported that the pitch was fully booked every night until 10pm and had around 1,500 users weekly.
"User numbers are used to chart this runaway success, and among those users are the pupils of Enniskillen Integrated Primary, Erne's sister school and main partner in the project," she explained.
She went on: "We did approach other sports clubs about formal partnerships, but none wanted to get involved to that level, although they were very supportive. That's worked to our advantage though, as it means we don't have to consult a big committee for every decision. The result is that this project is just getting better every day."
Indeed, the college has now appointed a sports development officer, Johnny McKee who is expanding the facility's remit further by targeting specific groups.
"We'd like to see more women using the pitch", he explained, " so, initially we're planning to organise something for our female teachers. As a teacher, it can be difficult to evaluate the results of your work. You see pupils for five years, they leave and often you never meet them again. But, with this we can look out the window and actually see the results of the effort we put in."
