PARTNER SCHOOLS
DUNDEE UNITED COMMUNITY TRUST ENGAGES WITH PEOPLE IN A VARIETY OF WAYS TO STIMULATE AND ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH EACH INDIVIDUAL CAN REALISE THEIR POTENTIAL AND SUBSEQUENTLY ACCOMPLISH MORE IN WHATEVER WALK OF LIFE THEY CHOSE.
The power of sport, particularly football, is used to engage people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. We are committed to reducing the attainment gap, raising aspirations through inspiring those we work with, and helping more people in our community to get and stay active.
We are committed to developing strong partnerships with nurseries, primary schools, secondary schools, and additional support needs schools to jointly create enhanced opportunities for pupils to develop, with a targeted focus on those most in need of support.
The Trust has been included within the Pupil Equity Fund framework set by Dundee City Council and is in the advanced stages of meeting the criteria required to become an SQA Centre of Excellence.
CURRENT PARTNER SCHOOLS
🟠 Kingspark School
⚫ Clepington Primary School
🟠 Dens Road Primary School
If you think your school would benefit from any of our projects, or you have an idea that you think we could explore together, please e-mail enquiries@dundeeunitedct.co.uk.
WATCH: Breakfast & After School Club
SCHOOL OF FOOTBALL
The School of Football project is aimed at developing the social and academic skills of young people and can be tailored to suit the needs of young people from primary four to fourth year.
Communication skills, following instructions, being creative, enhancing leadership skills and problem solving are all either naturally acquired or developed when learning to play football, but these skills can also be applied in classroom situations, in the playground, at home or in the street. For many children, football is an activity that captures their imagination and brings joy and happiness to their life. This is why through the School of Football project we use the sport to engage participants in school life as a whole.
Working closely with each school and their staff, a Dundee United Community Trust coach will be responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of the project, with coaching taking place during school time.
“The football session was really good, the pupils found it fun and engaging and were consistently encouraged by the coaches - positive praise was optimal. The coaches ensured they structured the lesson using short concise instructions and gave the pupils many water breaks on such a hot day, this worked extremely well for the pupils involved. The skills I noticed that pupils were working on supported them in many aspects of health and wellbeing. The pupils had an amazing time.”
TACKLING SCHOOLWORK
Tackling Schoolwork is a two-hour per week, eight-week curricular enrichment project that uses various aspects and departments within a football club to help pupils achieve certain outcomes and experiences that are central to the curriculum for excellence.
Blocks start with pupils self-evaluating their own literacy and numeracy skills, their ability to work with money, their understanding of a healthy lifestyle, their communication skills and how well they think they work with others. Self-evaluation is completed at the midway point and again at the end of the block, allowing the pupils to track their own progress.
Tackling Schoolwork adopts a disguised learning approach where pupils take on various roles such as Retail Manager, to enhance numeracy through buying and selling stock; a journalist, to enhance literacy through writing a match report; or as a Head of Department, to build confidence in speaking and debating in front of their peers.
Pupils taking part in Tackling Schoolwork saw an overall 89% increase in literacy skills, a 92% increase in numeracy skills and an 88% increase in their confidence in communicating with others.
“DUCT staff built effective relationships with pupils and there were clear curricular links relating to the literacy and numeracy skills pupils require practice of. The real-world focus of the tasks involved was excellent for demonstrating to children how to apply the skills they learn in school to their own lives.”
TERRYS TOTS
Terrys Tots is a physical literacy project that introduces nursery aged children to football and helps them foster a positive attitude towards physical activity from an early age.
Children will learn new skills within our storybook curriculum, which includes various themes such as Terry Visits The Zoo and Terry Learns To Drive. Sessions focus on developing the basic motor skills (such as balance, co-ordination, reactions, and reflexes) and fundamental movement skills (like catching, jumping, kicking, running, and throwing) of all children. Sessions also help to improve the communication skills and confidence of each child, as well at their ability to follow instructions.
Terrys Tots sessions last 30-45 minutes, and multiple sessions can be delivered throughout the day so all pupils can take part. The number of weeks a block runs can be customised by each nursery or school.
We understand some schools are limited with the indoor space available to them, so we have created our Terrys Tots curriculum to be suitable for smaller indoor spaces and even outdoor spaces.