Swindon Town

COMMONWEAL Sixth Form and Swindon Town Football in the Community Trust are delighted to announce the launch of a new Football Education Programme, which will ‘kick-off’ in September 2016.

This exciting new initiative is aimed at Year 11 students from all around the County of Wiltshire, with the educational element being delivered at the brand new, state of the art, sixth form centre, at Commonweal Sixth Form in the heart of Swindon.

Alongside a full range of A-Level and Vocational qualifications, with a curriculum tailored to the requirements of each student, the students will be offered the opportunity to train, gain coaching qualifications, and compete against other professional football clubs from around the country. In addition students on the football programme will be able to access the pastoral support, enrichment activities and careers’ opportunities available to all students at Commonweal Sixth.

This excellent and exciting new programme is being rolled out to boys and girls currently in Year 11 in schools across the Swindon area and beyond. Both parties, Commonweal and STFC Community Trust, are delighted to be able to offer young female footballers the chance to be a part of the only Professional Football Education Programme within the County of Wiltshire. As well as the playing and training opportunities, students will also be able to engage in Coach Education Workshops, which potentially could give them the chance to take their FA Level 1 qualification. Students expressing a keen interest will be able to gain valuable work experience by supporting qualified Swindon Town Football Club coaching staff at school and soccer centres sessions.

Jon Holloway, STFC Community Trust Manager, said “This is a wonderful partnership for us to be involved in, and we have had some very positive and productive meetings with Keith Defter and his staff at Commonweal. We are all focused on providing every student with the opportunity of having a positive two year period on the programme. In the talks we have had so far with Commonweal, it is clearly evident that we are engaging with an educational provider who is fully committed and dedicated in providing quality support for all of the students to succeed with their educational studies.

Keith Defter, Headteacher of Commonweal, stated, “We are absolutely delighted to be able to offer young people from across the region the opportunity to become a part of this very exciting programme. It will offer the very best in football education alongside a wide and varied range of highly successful courses at our brand new sixth form centre.”

Students and parents who would like to find out more should attend the Open Day on Monday 2nd November or Open Evening on Wednesday 4th November. Further information can be found at www.commonwealsixth.co.uk.