Birchington-on-Sea primary school adds mini golf to curriculum

Taralee Kennedy, head teacher of St Nicholas-at-Wade school, said the mini golf course is a "joy to have"

A primary school in Kent has added mini golf to its curriculum.

Earlier this month, the nine-hole course opened at St Nicholas-at-Wade school in Birchington-on-Sea, near Margate.

Head teacher Taralee Kennedy said the course was designed to teach pupils about different values.

Each hole represents one of the core values of the school which include courage, kindness and honesty.

The course has been incorporated into the curriculum for physical education (PE) so pupils from each year group have an opportunity to play.

"We get lots of children who might not love football or basketball quite as much but as soon as we got the mini golf, they were straight out wanting to participate," said Sarah Patterson, PE lead and Year four teacher.

Each hole represent one of the school's core values

Each hole is designed to represent one of the different values used in everyday life.

"Resilience for example is a really tricky hole, it's got a wall to jump over and it's hard to get in," said Ms Kennedy.

One pupil said it was "literally amazing!"

"No other school has this. We're really lucky to have a mini golf course at school," he added.

Another pupil said: "Anybody can play golf, not just girls, not just boys, anybody can play it."

Speaking to BBC Radio Kent, Ms Kennedy said educational skills - such as counting - are "woven into the game".

School leaders have said they will open up the course to the community.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].