"I would like to thank all the coaches for their dedication, hard work and making my son's week fun and enjoyable! Thank you very much...10/10"
"It's such a relief to leave my son knowing that he is in a safe, fun environment. Thank you Sportstars!"
"The staff were extremely friendly and had a great rapport with the children."
"A really good week - excellent value, the girls were really happy, we knew they were safe and the performance was great! This is our second time and we'd definitely come again."
"I brought four children to the scheme, ranging from 5 to 10. They all loved coming and ran in every morning. Excellent...10/10"
"I was a bit concerned about leaving my son as he's only just four, but the coaches were so friendly and confident it put my mind at ease straight away. Thanks all. 10/10"
"The coaches have all been fantastic with the children - an excellent balance of fun, learning and discipline. They really manage to communicate with all the children regardless of their age or ability - very impressed indeed!"
"(Sportstars) supply extremely high quality planning, preparation and assessment cover and after school activities, all at a reasonable cost to already stretched school budgets".
"As a Headteacher I have been challenged by the latest educational reforms of providing good quality cover for staff while they have their 10% Planning Preparation and Assessment Time. I tried a range of providers before and themes for the pupils before employing the services of Sportstars... I have now decided to use Sportstars to cover all the schools PPA requirements for next year and have been very impressed with the company...the services they provide have been a real godsend to Headteachers and the quality of staff are of a high standard".
"Sportstars has been working in Kitchener Primary school for the past year. The enthusiastic and energetic coaches are well trained and motivate the children in a wide variety of sports during the year. Sportstars also provide end of year reports for the teachers with whom they have been working."
"Sportstars is very well organised, has excellent coaching personnel, offers a diversity of sports and is excellent value for money! Sportstars has addressed the Health and Safety issues and the coaches have a code of conduct - both of which are so important where the safety and security are concerned'.'The work being done by Sportstars in schools and in holiday clubs, will play a major role in the fight against obesity and also encourage children to take a more active role in sport".
"We are a small school and it's been fantastic to receive fresh new faces bringing in their expertise. Sportstars is a very dependable company and we have never been let down. We had been having great difficulty covering PPA in the past but now we have no worries."
"I have been extremely impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of the staff of Sportstars. They enthuse and engage the pupils which will lead to them continuing to enjoy the benefits of sporting activities throughout their lives."
"We have been working with Sportstars since September 2006, when financial pressures meant we were unable to fund a qualified teacher to provide PPA cover. Coaches work closely within existing school policies and frameworks. They have proved extremely popular with our pupils and are highly respected by staff as they bring extra specialities into our school routines."
"The qualified coaches of Sportstars are making a significant contribution in our school, both through covering classes for PPA and also by raising standards of achievement across all year groups. With their detailed planning, accurate assessments and good class management, they have quickly won the respect of teachers and the trust of pupils. I recommend them highly."
"Sportstars is a well organised and very efficient service. They have excellent coaches who cover the full range of the PE curriculum. Detailed lesson planning is provided and is tailored to suit our school's individual needs."
Young entrepreneur guns for glory
28/10/09
Twenty seven year old James Taylor of SportStars, a company which specialises in providing high quality sports coaching for children aged 4-12, has been selected by Growing Business magazine as one of this year’s ‘Young Guns’.
Now in its seventh successful year, the Young Guns celebrate the most outstanding crop of young entrepreneurs the UK has to offer. From Innocent Drinks’ Richard Reed to Daisy Group’s Matthew Riley, who recently completed a £200m AIM flotation of his company, and Seb Bishop, who sold his advertising business for $200m, there are now well over 200 entrepreneurs who have been identified in their ascent to greatness through the scheme.
Despite the challenging economic environment, the Young Guns Class of 2009 is made up of thirty entrepreneurs who have demonstrated a unique and outstanding business that has experienced considerable success.
Established by James Taylor in 2005, SportStars provides both structured PE, music and drama lessons in primary schools to fill teaching time left by teachers who are away from the classroom planning lessons and courses throughout the school holidays. From five school contracts in year one, the company now works with 100 schools, working with over 25,000 children each week.
On winning the award, managing director James Taylor, says: “I feel privileged to have been selected for this prestigious list of young entrepreneurs. When I was starting out, some people told me that the business wouldn't work and asked me when I was going to get a proper job. They looked at reasons why it couldn't be achieved instead of looking at how it could be, so it’s great to now be winning prestigious business awards that recognise the work that we’re doing as a business and the effort of the fantastic team we have at SportStars.”
Since starting the company, Taylor has won an array of national business awards for his rapidly growing company including being named as Shell Livewire Entrepreneur of the Year, HSBC Start-up Stars, The Daily Mail’s Enterprising Young Brits and was crowned number one SME in the UK at the Natwest Startup Awards. James has also featured on the BBC hit TV programme “The Last Millionaire”.
“We conducted our search in one of the toughest trading environments for decades but finding gutsy young entrepreneurs was no more difficult this year, as the quality of the businesses on the final Young Guns 2009 list demonstrates,” said James Hurley, editor of Growing Business magazine.
“The Young Guns alumni are 210-strong and many of the members of this exclusive club have already surpassed our high expectations. Congratulations are due to all of the entrepreneurs who made the 2009 list and we fully expect to be covering their success stories for years to come.”