The East Kent Community Tennis Programme

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Programmes offered in Tennis programme in the last 2 years:

Schools
0

2025: 10 Schools. 2026: 16 schools.

Average Pupil Premium
0 %

2025: 47% 2026: 53%

Total No. of Students
0

2025: 1100 2026: 1355

Total No. of Individual Student Interactions
0

2025: 4188 2026: 4875

Total No. of Teachers
0

2025: 90. 2026: 386

Total No. of Parents
0

2025: 40 2026: 100

Highlights and feedback

EKCTP festival at Everyone Active indoor courts, Deal
Net Gain CIC tennis session in action
“Richard arrived in Deal last year and introduced himself to the club. His engagement and imagination has led to a wonderful afternoon and evening at Walmer for which I and our club are extremely grateful. Richard has always heaped praise on us but it is you we should thank. Tim Henman was enormously generous with his time which allowed a family of tennis players to listen and learn from a sportsman who has reached the heights of his game.”

Peter Tullo

Chairman of Walmer LTC

“I thought the tennis sessions were great and exciting. I think I improved in PE, especially my throwing and hitting skills. Karen was nice and was so helpful.”

Student

Aspen Primary School | Dover and Deal Hub

“The students have engaged very well with the sessions, both sensory tennis and the skill based tennis sessions. I have seen some clear improvements in students’ hand-eye coordination as some students who struggled to even hit the ball in the first week can now consistently hit a slow ball. Some students at the start couldn’t control the ball when they hit it, now they are showing more fluency and consistence with their hitting.”

Teacher

Aspen Primary School | Dover and Deal Hub

“Some pupils had already been previously taught by Karen and loved that she had come into Goodwin to teach them. Some were very new to tennis and therefore the lessons were an introduction to a new sport. Karen has a lovely way with the pupils as she is very calm and approachable to all if they need any additional support. All pupils engaged in the lessons as Karen adapted the lessons to suit the needs of the pupils in front of her.”

Head of PE, Senior School

Goodwin Academy | Dover and Deal Hub

“I enjoyed jailbreak because I get to use the skills in a fun way.”

Year 4 pupil

Green Park Community Primary | Dover and Deal Hub

“The support through this partnership enabled us to prepare a group of pupils, many of whom receive Pupil Premium funding, for the School Games competition. Winning the local event and reaching the regional finals was an incredible achievement and one that simply would not have happened without this programme.”

Headteacher

Christ Church C of E Primary School | Net Gain Community CIC

“The coaches quickly built fantastic relationships with our children. They adapted every session to ensure every pupil experienced success, regardless of ability or previous sporting experience.”

Jon Rees, PE Lead

Byesing Wood Primary School | Net Gain Community CIC

EKCTP school trip to the Laver Cup at The O2

A brilliant trip to the O2, Laver Cup!

The children had an incredible time, with games and activities to take part in, the opportunity to watch professional tennis players being interviewed and most exciting of all, seeing them in live action on the court!

The excitement started from the moment we left school, with the children enjoying the train journey and tube ride just as much as the event itself!

One of the proudest moments of the day came on our journey home. We received such wonderful praise and kind comments from members of the general public about the children’s behaviour on the train. Their manners, enthusiasm and respect for others truly demonstrated what it means to be a role model. We couldn’t have been prouder!

A huge thank you to Karen Hodgson and Matt Glazier for making this incredible trip possible for our tiny school, alongside the LTA and East Kent Community Tennis Programme. We are so grateful for the opportunities you have created for our children.

We are now even more excited to get stuck into tennis and hopefully, create many more opportunities for even more of our students to experience amazing events like this in the future!

Why?

  • To increase opportunities for deserving young people by giving them the chance to learn tennis and develop their well-being. Schools involved should have higher than the national average for Pupil Premium and Free School Meals
  • To improve participation
  • To build a performance pathway
  • To establish a coaching pathway that resolves the coach resourcing issues within East Kent (See Appendices 1 and 2 Draft Policy)
  • To create an awareness of the excellent facilities and support that exist through the LTA and the locality

How?

  • • Helping build Club, School and Park, Community Tennis Hubs with links with key funders.

The initial hubs are:

Net Gain and Infinity Thanet Hub

Introduction

Net Gain CIC is committed to fostering the growth of tennis among children, particularly in underserved communities. Our mission is to introduce the lifelong joy and benefits of tennis to children, regardless of their background. With this proposal, we will use the donation of £10,000 to deliver an innovative in-school tennis programme tailored for schools in Thanet with high levels of free school meals/pupil premium.

Objective

The primary objective of this programme is to make tennis accessible and enjoyable for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, using it as a vehicle for positive change in their lives. We aim to achieve this by integrating tennis into the curriculum, providing quality coaching, necessary equipment, and creating pathways for sustained engagement with the sport.

Programme Overview

The proposed funding will enable a comprehensive six-week (1 term) tennis course at six selected schools across Thanet. This programme is designed not just as a short-term introduction to tennis, but as a foundation for lifelong engagement with the sport. Key components of the proposal include:

Impact and Outcomes

The expected outcomes of this programme include:
  • Increased participation in tennis among children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • Improved physical health and well-being of participants.
  • Development of life skills, including teamwork, leadership, and perseverance, through sport.
  • Creation of sustainable pathways for continued engagement with tennis.

Conclusion

The Net Gain CIC School Programme represents a unique opportunity to transform the lives of children in Thanet through the sport of tennis. With your support, we can provide these children with not just the skills to play, but also a gateway to a healthier, more active lifestyle and a sense of belonging within their community. We invite you to join us in making this vision a reality, creating lasting impact on the lives of these young individuals and their communities.

Deal and Dover Hub

Introduction

The Deal and Dover Park Tennis CIC currently operates the refurbished courts at Marke Wood Recreation Ground in Deal. Their vision is to open-up tennis within the local community, providing welcoming, accessible and affordable tennis for everyone, thus allowing everyone to reap the fitness and social benefits that tennis offers.

The CIC is delighted, together with Accredited Tennis Coach, Karen Hodgson (one of its coaching providers), to have received £3000 to deliver a tennis outreach project in Deal and Dover to 4 primary schools, each with a high pupil premium level. Using Karen’s extensive experience of delivering an inclusive tennis programme within a local primary school with a high level of pupil premium, the schools’ outreach project has been devised to help the enrolled schools to be self-sufficient in their tennis provision.

Objective

The primary objective of this programme is to help each school to build and maintain its own sustainable, inclusive tennis programme so all its pupils during their school journeys will have the opportunity to thrive in tennis by growing in self-confidence, becoming more resilient, developing life skills such as teamwork, problem-solving and leadership, in addition to improving their physical and mental well-being.

Programme Overview

The schools’ tennis outreach programme is providing financial support and tennis guidance during 2024/2025 for an enthusiastic Teaching Assistant (or member of Support Staff) at four different primary schools to become their ‘Tennis Champion’. The Tennis Champions will organise and run all their tennis activities within their schools with the full support and engagement of their school’s leadership team. The tennis activities are to include:

  • Weekly after-school tennis club for 20 sessions during the year.
  • Attendance of end-of-project Tennis Festival.
  • Trip(s) to either compete or spectate at a tennis tournament.

The Tennis Champions have all undertaken the LTA Tennis Training course for Primary School Staff and will receive three continuous professional development sessions, in addition to regular support and guidance, from Accredited Tennis Coach, Karen Hodgson.

Impact and Outcomes

The expected outcomes of this programme include:

  • Primary schools to deliver their own sustainable, inclusive tennis programme.
  • Increased participation in tennis among children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • Improved physical health and well-being of participants.
  • Development of life skills, including teamwork, leadership, and perseverance, through sport.

Conclusion

The Deal and Dover Park Tennis CIC Schools’ Tennis Outreach Programme template represents a great opportunity for primary schools to become self-sufficient in delivering inclusive tennis within their schools and thus help their pupils thrive, year after year, through the sport of tennis.

With your support, we can help more primary schools become self-sufficient in delivering tennis so allowing more children not only to learn the skills to play, but also access a gateway to a healthier, more active lifestyle. We invite you to join us in making this vision a reality, creating lasting impact on the lives of these young individuals.

What?

All programmes will work with the principles outlined by LTA Youth Sport and with the support of the LTA and Tennis Kent.

The aim is to bring tennis opportunity to schools and children in areas of high pupil premium and free school meal percentages

The EKCTP will:

  • Access for deserving young people and communities
  • Tennis Festivals
  • Tennis Roadshows
  • Tennis Leaders Qualifications
  • Teacher and Tennis Coach CPD
  • Follow on Opportunities
  • Build six + week programmes in primary schools integrated into the school’s curriculum through Net Gain CIC
  • Create Tennis Champions in Primary Schools and assist with the setting-up of the schools own weekly after school tennis clubs
Karen Hodgson
DDPT

Key Contacts

Programme Director: Gavid Vickers

gavidvickers@infinity-tennis.co.uk

Coaches: Karen Hodgson

hodgson_k3@sky.com