In pictures: Maidenhead pupils try different sports at Try It Festivals

Pupils from seven schools across Maidenhead tried out different sports and physical activities as part of the new Try It Festivals on Wednesday.

Introduced for Key Stage Two by the Ascot & Maidenhead School Sport Partnership, the festivals encourage children aged seven to 11 to try some new sports and physical activities that are different from what they do in PE lessons.

The initiative also looks to boost children’s activity levels.

Just under 100 children took part in three sports – roundnet, pickleball and indoor bowls – at Newlands Girls’ School on Wednesday.

The schools taking part were All Saints Junior School, Holyport Primary School, St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, St Luke’s Primary School Maidenhead, Furze Platt Junior School and Wessex Primary School.

The Partnership works with its member schools to try and boost the number of children being active on a regular basis and the type and amount of physical activity they do.

Roundnet, often called spikeball, is a 360 degree team sport, which is similar to volleyball, but is played around a small circular net on the ground.

Pickleball combines the elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis, and can be played both indoors and outdoors.

Players use solid padels made from wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball over a net.

Indoor bowls is an inclusive target game, which uses weighted balls to fine tune aim and rolling, and can be played as a team or individually.

The partnership was also supported by a team of 18 sports leadership students from Newlands on the day, who led the individual skills stations and provided encouragement to pupils.

The aim of the festivals was for schools to experience new sports and for youngsters to ‘have fun, get active and enjoy these different physical activities in a safe, supportive environment’.

The pupils has a ‘brilliant time’ and it was ‘fantastic’ to see how both the children and teachers reacted to the new sports, organisers said.

Emma Fitzgerald, partnership development manager for Ascot & Maidenhead School Sport Partnership, said: “It’s really exciting to introduce new sports into our schools.

“I hope all the schools have been inspired to go back and try these new sports in their schools focusing on skill development and adapted games to ensure lots of success.

“It’s so important to build children’s physical activity levels and we need to use every trick in the book to make that happen.

“I always advise children to try as many different sports as possible until they find something they enjoy.

“A big thankyou to Newlands Girls School for hosting us and giving us their sports hall for the day.”