Cross Country Festival

Our Cross Country Festival gives the opportunity for local state primary schools to take part in a large-scale athletics event at Wollaton Park in Nottingham. 

Aims

To provide the opportunity for young runners to enjoy the fun and challenge of a large-scale race.  
 
The need was to offer a venue and the organisation of a cross-country race, with the capacity to accommodate multiple schools and runners.  
 
For the event to be a success, we needed a full roster of young athletes, from a range of schools across the Nottingham area.  
 
392 children from 20 state primary schools across Nottingham competed at the event. Parents were also invited to watch. 

Background

Nottingham High Infant and Junior School hosts an annual programme of sports competitions for local primary schools, which include netball, football, Kwik Cricket, tag rugby and cross-country. Part of the schools’ ethos is to share its sporting facilities and sporting opportunities with other schools in the local community. The school’s Cross Country Festivals has been running for 5 years, led by Head of Infant and Junior School Sport. 

Resources

For this event to succeed, we provided free access to Wollaton Park, a famous 500-acre park in Nottingham. 2 members of teaching staff from our Infant and Junior School hosted the event itself.  
 
Mrs Bruce, Head of the Infant and Junior School attended to award trophies and medals at the end of the races. 
 
The schools’ Head of Admissions and Partnership oversaw the invitation and booking process.  
 
Our catering staff provided refreshments free of charge for visiting children and school staff.  
 
The event itself ran for 2 hours, with approximately 2 days of preparation time.  

Impact

“Our son took part in the cross country event yesterday (Friday) and really enjoyed himself. It was a great atmosphere, and brilliant to see all the kids from different schools racing together, and encouraging each other. From our son's perspective, it was a completely new experience for him, and one he’d happily repeat.  
 
Thank you for to all those putting time and energy into getting the children there, and looking after them at the event.” Parent, The Lanes Primary School 

Pupil Involvement

392 girls and boys aged 8-11 from 19 local state primary schools, and 25 members of staff. 

Frequency

The Cross Country Festival runs annually.