A teacher from Bury organised a football tournament with the aim of bringing youngsters together through sport.
The occasion organised by Tom Parkington from The Priory School is a part of a three-event schedule for the Eastern Education Group’s SEND provision.
(In addition to the football tournament 2026, a park run and mini Olympics style athletics event will also take place).
This year’s footy fest took place at Priory Aspire in Thurston.
Running for the last three years, those who participated were key stage three and four learners from Priory School, Chalk Hill, Priory at Thurston (PAT), Aspire and Stone Lodge.
West Suffolk College backed the tournament and brought across some sports students who helped oversee activities whilst also acting as coaches and referees.
Organiser, Tom Parkington, “Some tight games played out, including a penalty shootout to decide one of the finalists, but it was Stone Lodge who won the key stage four competition and Chalk Hill’s orange team who won the key stage three tournament.
In terms of the tournament itself, Tom added: “The event created a fantastic opportunity for the students to access a sports competition that so many of them won’t have experienced outside of school. It was a positive reminder of the power of sport to embed character strengths and develop individuals. It was also a successful opportunity for parts of the Eastern Education Group to come together, collaborate and develop ideas to further develop the experiences for the EEG community. On top of all of that, there has been the start of
