British tennis superstar Tim Henman inspires Didcot pupils

The former number one player came to school as part of a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Youth Tennis programme, an innovative scheme aimed at children aged from four to 18. It is designed to help more younger players enjoy the benefits of their sport and stay with tennis whatever their age, gender, ability, disability or background. A total of 286 children from Years 1 to 6 are taking part.

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​"Our school was encouraged by The Tim Henman Foundation and GLF Schools, our trust, to take up an offer from the LTA of free online teacher training as part of the programme, which is being delivered across both primary and secondary schools."

Foundation Head at GLF, Jak Martin said: “The GLF Schools Foundation tennis programme has been a great success. Students and staff are thoroughly enjoying having the opportunity to take part in these expertly delivered tennis sessions.”

After our school registered with LTA Youth Schools, we completed the Primary teacher training course and received a £250 voucher, an incentive for completing the training, which we chose to use for ten hours of team teaching with a local LTA Accredited Coach. 

LTA Youth Start is delivered by coaches at tennis clubs, parks and other venues around the country, and includes six fun and progressive sessions with a trained LTA Youth Start coach, along with a free tennis racket, set of balls and a branded t-shirt for each child. We are the second GLF school to benefit from the link-up.

Tim said: “We first took the programme with LTA into Chestnut Park, which is an amazing facility, and we’ve really seen the benefit. Manor Primary School is in my local area and I’d really like to do more. 

“The last few years have been so challenging for everyone, and the deprivation is even greater now, with more individuals, families and schools needing support.

“Accessibility and opportunity in tennis is not always easy, but you can see from the reaction of the children how worthwhile it is.  You don’t have to have a traditional tennis court – it can be the playground or the school hall. 

“It’s very motivating for the children to be getting something they wouldn’t ordinarily have received – that’s what motivates me to do more.”

After a coaching session with the former world number one, our school’s eight house leaders had the opportunity to put their questions to him.

Thomas, Finnan, Amelia, Liza, Seren, Layla, Olivia and Emilie, who are all in Year 6, asked Tim a range of questions from his  training schedule when he was their age to  how many competitions he had won, and whether he had ever regretted leaving school at 16 to play tennis. 

Participation Development Partner at the LTA,Harry Ash said: “It is fantastic that the Tim Henman Foundation was able to provide Manor Park Primary School with the additional funding for pupils to continue their tennis introduction through the LTA Youth Start Programme, and it was brilliant to have Tim at the school for this session.”