Staff at Laleham Gap School are celebrating national recognition for their staff table tennis club from two sources!
The club has received national accolades from Table Tennis England and ‘The Teacher’ magazine for its amazing successes.
It is run by Paul Ursell, a teacher and table tennis coach at the school. He said: “Having run table tennis clubs for pupils for years I have always been aware of the well-being benefits playing the sport can bring. So, a couple of years ago I set up a club for staff and it has thrived.”
Table Tennis England was so impressed by the results Paul has achieved that they have cited the Thanet club on their website as an example of why other workplaces should set up one up.
At Laleham Gap 40 staff have attended and 79% say it has improved stress levels. Some 74% cited improvements in physical health and 100% said it was good for social mixing and fun!
When they heard about it teaching unions ‘The Teacher’ magazine ran an article advocating the Laleham Gap club as a way to combat stress in schools. On the day the magazine was published a head teacher from Norwich contacted Paul wanting advice on how to set up a club like the Laleham Gap model.
Paul said “We are really proud at Laleham Gap of the excellent PE we provide all our pupils. But it is great to now extend that to staff. Improving staff well-being in this way is great for staff and a happier staff is great for the pupils too. It is win-win and well done to all my great ping pongers!”
If any workplace is keen to follow Laleham Gap’s lead, Paul would be happy to help. Just email [email protected] and we will pass your details on.
