Building a community to be proud of
We are proud of our excellent track record of collaborative place based leadership to date and have learnt an enormous amount about how to engage local people and the wider systems with authenticity and purpose. As such, the appetite for learning and building active, healthy communities is now shared by a growing network of partners and is demonstrated by our whole system approach which focuses on a wider geographical area than just New Parks.
Through our community based work we have recognised that traditional methods of creating change that involve ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ approaches lead to linear silos. Our approach of building communities from the inside out has avoided the silo effect and ensured common purpose towards whole system changes.
We have recognised that organisations and communities are interlinked and interdependent, therefore a system perspective is at the centre of all our work, not just within the realm of sport and physical activity but across the healthcare, social care and public health system as well as more broadly across the ‘place shaping agenda’.
Our approach to place leadership applies equally to local leaders within communities and to organisational leaders, strategic influencers and political leaders. We believe and work on the principle that true collaboration has no hierarchy and builds on the logic that partnership is the union which enables all parties to do something together that they cannot do alone. Genuine collaboration within a complex system as required adaptive practice by all involved and we are developing this through all our strategies.
Working in such uncertain, diverse and complex communities where approaches do not yield their normal expected results. We have needed to work flexibly as we encounter unprecedented situations and as our understanding of the local community grows.
Over time we have developed our local knowledge and intelligence which we now share with partners from the Public Sector, Third Sector and, where relevant and appropriate, the Private Sector. Our asset based community development approach is well recognised and we have started to share our success to create active vibrant communities and reducing health inequalities across the city, county and the country.
We have started to create a whole system change by doing things together, by modelling leadership practice and behaviours and by encouraging and enabling leadership at every level, particularly locally where individuals and whole communities own the shift that they create, supported by our services, infrastructure and assets where appropriate.
Through eight years of hard work we are starting to see a culture shift whereby regular sport and physical activity is not just normal, but it is seen as central to good health and wellbeing, which in turn is creating a community to be proud of.
Herewoode Coffee Shop
Our Herewoode Coffee Shop is open to students from 3:00pm until 3:30pm and to the public from 3:30pm to 6:45pm Monday to Friday. We are also open 8:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday and Sunday to provide our community with refreshments and hot and cold food.
Hiring our facilities
The Herewoode Academy is a school with some fantastic facilities that it is pleased to make available to the general public for 48 weeks of the year. Through bespoke management models, the facilities can be booked out of school hours.
- Monday–Friday — 4:30pm–9:30pm
- Saturday and Sunday — 8:30am–5:30pm
You can also book the schools facilities during all the school holidays. All the schools facilities and how to book them is below — click on the links for full details.
Our Central Hall here at The Herewoode Academy is a multipurpose space that offers a more traditional theatre setting with a stage. It can seat up to 200 people and is a great venue for large meetings or small theatrical performances. Our Central Hall is also a great space for children’s parties with a bouncy castle. Currently, Central Hall is home to Leicester Tang Soo Do and Grace Life AOG Church.
Prices start from £30.00 per hour.
To find out the cost and availability please contact Alex Greenwood by emailing her at lettings@newcollege.leicester.sch.uk Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.00pm (Term Time Only) or by calling her on 0116 231 8518, after 4pm and at weekends both during term time and during the school holidays please contact our main reception on 0116 231 8500.
We have many classrooms that make ideal spaces for meetings for up to 30 people. These rooms can be set up either classroom style or boardroom style for up to 30 people. All rooms are equipped with state of the art interactive white boards that make any presentation go well. All rooms have remote access to the colleges WiFi.
Prices start from £30.00 per hour.
To find out the cost and availability please contact Alex Greenwood by emailing her at lettings@newcollege.leicester.sch.uk Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.00pm (Term Time Only) or by calling her on 0116 231 8518, after 4pm and at weekends both during term time and during the school holidays please contact our main reception on 0116 231 8500.
The Football Development Centre was part of a £12 million City wide initiative to provide better grass roots football facilities. The facilities available include:
- Pavilion with 6 changing rooms, storage, office and club room
- Full size floodlit 3G artificial pitch that can also be split in to 3 smaller pitches
- Full size floodlit, post and rail, natural turf pitch with dugouts.
- 7 additional natural turf pitches of varying sizes to accommodate junior football
The Football Development Centre at New College Leicester is manged out of school hours by Leicester City Council and New Parks Leisure Centre. It is home to Allexton and New Parks Football Club who offer a wide variety of age groups.
The Centre also host the Leicester City Schools Football Associations Primary School League and all of the representative sides from under 11s to under 16s.
Information about Allexton and New Parks FC can be found on their website https://www.anpfc.org
If you are interested in booking the artificial pitch you can call New Parks Leisure Centre on 0116 233 3080.
The Gymnastics Centre is The Herewoode Academy's flagship facility that opened in 2009 for the Special Olympics. It is the only purpose built gymnastics facility with fixed spectator seating within the East Midlands. Capable of seating 400 spectators the venue host national and international events alongside being the home of Hinckley Gymnastics Club who provide a number of recreational and club classes. 2019 saw the centre refurbished through a relationship with Gymnova and it is now equipped with Olympic standard equipment.
Out of school hours our gymnastics centre is managed by Hinckley Gymnastic Club and all details of their classes and hiring the centre can be found on their website https://www.iflip.org.
The fully floodlit Cycle Circuit is an innovative fully lit 1km long and 6m wide circuit suitable for learning to ride, training and racing for all abilities.
The circuit is intended for use by schools, clubs & the general public, and currently the circuit host the following;
- Primary School Sessions with Go-Ride, Bike It & Bikeability
- Junior Club Coaching with Leicester Forest CC ‘Rockets’
- Adult Cycle Training with Balance Bikes & Bikeability
- Qualification Level Training with British Cycling
- Cycle Racing events including Leicester Castle Classic
- Monthly FREE ‘Bike Fest’ Community Try-out Events
- Public ‘Pay & Ride’ Sessions for individuals & groups
- Skate School, Running, Triathlon & More ad hoc events
This circuit was funded through a partnership between New College Leicester, British Cycling and Leicester City Council.
The track is home to British Cycling, Leicester Forest Cycling, Owls Athletics and University of Leicester
The cost of the Cycle Circuit is below:
- Go Ride Accredited Clubs £30 per hour
- British Cycling Affiliated Clubs £35 per hour
- Other constituted clubs / groups £40 per hour
- Commercial Organisations £50 per hour
- British Cycling Coaching Courses £175 per day
- Pay and Ride - Adult £5
- Pay and Ride - Junior £3
- Pay and Ride - Group of 4 - £12.50
To find out the cost and availability, please contact Alex Greenwood by emailing her at lettings@newcollege.leicester.sch.uk Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.00pm (Term Time Only) or by calling her on 0116 231 8518, after 4pm and at weekends both during term time and during the school holidays please contact our main reception on 0116 231 8500.
The Sports Hall at The Herewoode Academy is a traditional 4 badminton court hall complete with Badminton England endorsed vinyl spring-loaded Gerfloor system. What is also unique about our sports hall is the viewing gallery that can seat up to 100 people above the action making it ideal for sports fixtures.
The sports hall can be used for:
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Dodgeball
- Futsal
- Indoor Football
- Indoor hockey
- Netball
- Volleyball
Our Sports Hall is home to Hawks Netball, Kixx Leicester, Leicester Athena Volleyball, Leicester Badminton Club, Leicester Riders, PSA Futsal and Wreake Sports Club.
Prices start from £12.50 per court per hour.
To find out the cost and availability please contact Alex Greenwood by emailing her at lettings@newcollege.leicester.sch.uk Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.00pm (Term Time Only) or by calling her on 0116 231 8518, after 4pm and at weekends both during term time and during the school holidays please contact our main reception on 0116 231 8500.
Thanks to a grant from Sport England we were able to refurbish our tennis and netball courts in 2019 here at The Herewoode Academy. We now have 8 fully floodlit tarmacadam tennis courts that also double up as 4 netball courts.
The cost to hire our courts are as follows:
- £10 per tennis court per hour
- £20 per netball court per hour
Our Netball Courts are home to Hawks Netball Club.
To find out the cost and availability please contact Alex Greenwood by emailing her at lettings@newcollege.leicester.sch.uk Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.00pm (Term Time Only) or by calling her on 0116 231 8518, after 4pm and at weekends both during term time and during the school holidays please contact our main reception on 0116 231 8500.
Our ground floor theatre here at The Herewoode Academy is an excellent multipurpose space thanks to the retractable seating. With seating for 240 people the theatre can host productions, dance competitions and a diverse range of awards ceremonies that require an audience. The theatre is complete with state of the art audiovisual equipment in order for you to put on a high quality performance or conference.
Our theatre was designed with retractable seating, this means it doesn't matter where you sit you will see the performance from any angle. When the seating is retracted it leaves a large space 21m x 17m that can be used for a number of other activities like fitness classes, martial art classes and dance classes. Please note our theatre does not have a stage.
Our theatre is home to Leicester Tang Soo Do, Restore Your Calm Yoga, DMU Dance Society and AFM Leicester Jubilee Church, to name just a few.
Prices start from:
- £52.50 per hour with the seating and the AV equipment
- £37.50 per hour with the seating retracted
To find out the cost and availability please contact Alex Burton by emailing her at lettings@newcollege.leicester.sch.uk Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.00pm (Term Time Only) or by calling her on 0116 231 8518, after 4pm and at weekends both during term time and during the school holidays please contact our main reception on 0116 231 8500.