Through the power of football six local schools have been brought together in an exciting new competition, the Kent Inclusive Football League.
What started out as just a kickabout between two of the schools has become a lot bigger and it is great to see so many enthusiastic young people now involved.
The league is helping to remove barriers that might prevent people from enjoying ‘the beautiful game’ and is forging relationships between students within the local community.
The teams that make up the league proudly represent Special Educational Needs and Social Emotional Mental Health alternative provisions that all give opportunities to students in specialised settings.
The ethos of the league is inclusion and friendship, where everyone gets a chance to play and after the first match of the season, it’s clearly working!
A determined group of GFC students made their successful debut appearance against Inspire Academy in a thrilling first match of the season which took place at Gillingham’s training ground at Beechings Cross.
“All the students involved were a credit to their school,” said PE teacher Osman Kafesci. “They showed an individual and collective spirit and made everyone proud.”
PE teacher Tom Creed added: “It was great seeing them out on the pitch, interacting with other players and building strong relationships.”
Although The GFC School fell to a 4-0 loss, the real victory was seeing our students fulfil their potential in a truly inclusive environment.
Participating teams are: North West Kent, The Rowans AP, The GFC School, Inspire Academy, Rivermead, Will Adams.