School opens e-shack for pupils

The concept of the e-shack originated from the school Pokémon club and has since developed into the e-sports subject, an exciting Key Stage 4 option under the leadership of passionate staff members, Mr Taylor and with the support of Mr Pickering.

The ambitious and developing subject will promote online safety and look at the history of gaming, whilst providing pupils with the knowledge and skills to pursue a career in e-sports, one of the fastest evolving industries on the planet. The job site, Indeed, identifies occupations such as event management, engineering, graphic design, journalism, analysis, content creation, sales and marketing as potential pathways, alongside the growing e-sports phenomenon.

Hours of hard work and contributions from the local community have gone into developing the e-shack which hosts a range of consoles spanning across Playstations, Xboxes, Wiis and even retro arcade games. The facility includes a sensory space for quieter gaming, whilst Mr Taylor has plans for a Woodlands Academy e-sports team with the pupils using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to create their own logo.

The e-shack is also supporting positive behaviour with up to eight pupils given the opportunity to spend a lesson in the facility during Friday enrichment sessions, providing they earn enough effort points during the week.

One Year 9 pupil explained: "The e-shack has helped students to regulate their emotions and work towards something, especially because many of us enjoy gaming. If you are doing well, you can go inside the e-shack which gives people a little push to say ‘I want to achieve that’. When they have a good week, this is their reward."

Another pupil added: "The e-shack makes the school even better. We already have so many good students but this will hopefully boost their education even more. It is always just a blast in here and we are always having fun."

Pupils and staff at the school were delighted to welcome Councillors Lee Marsh (Deputy Mayor), Max Gibson and Alan Day from Spilsby Town Council who helped officially unveil the new facility and enjoyed a tour around Woodlands Academy.