How wheelchair sport helped Norfolk Village State School flip the narrative on inclusion

Words by David Middleast, Content and Engagement Lead at Australian Sports Commission / Photos provided by Norfolk Village State School

The Teams meeting opens with warm smiles from the staff at Norfolk Village State School and classroom posters that take me straight back to my own school years. After a quick introduction, we dive into the story of how their school flipped the narrative on inclusion through the power of sport.

What made this story unique is the way the school approached their Sporting Schools funding. Rather than sitting solely with the Physical Education team, staff working across inclusion, teaching and community engagement helped shape the program.

“The idea had been percolating for a while, but it was the Sporting Schools funding that helped turn it into something our whole school community could benefit from” said Alana Thornber, Health and Physical Education Teacher

Working with local provider Sporting Wheelies, the school organised wheelchair basketball sessions across two days. The first session introduced students to the chairs and the skills required to move, turn and control the ball. The following weeks put those skills into practice through games and play.

Students climbed into wheelchairs alongside their classmates. There was no separate activity for students with disability, and nobody was given a role on the sidelines. For one student who uses a wheelchair, this was a big change. Much of their school sport experience involves teachers adapting activities and environments to support them.

This time, everyone else was adapting to their world.

That sense of shared participation is central to Sporting Wheelies’ school programs, which bring students with and without disability together through sports such as wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, goalball and boccia. The sessions are led by people with disability who can combine sporting expertise with their own lived experience.

For the student who uses a wheelchair, seeing people with disability leading the session showed that roles like this were possible. For their classmates, it offered a different perspective on disability, which deepened once they climbed into a wheelchair themselves. They quickly discovered that passing, dribbling and moving across the court required significant strength, coordination and concentration.

“Wheelchair basketball was a really exciting new experience for me in Year 5. We got to try it twice with different teachers, and I had so much fun both times. It was quite easy to move the wheelchair, but turning was a bit tricky at first. I play soccer, so trying a different sport like this was amazing. My favourite parts were playing games like bullrush and basketball. It was so much fun! I loved learning from people who use wheelchairs because they showed us how everything works. It helped me understand that there are different ways to get around and still join in. It made everything feel fair, and I’d love another chance to try it again,” said Tate Thornton, Year 5 Student.

Teaching staff who regularly adapt activities for students with disability joined the group. Getting into a wheelchair provided a different perspective on the decisions they make every day. It prompted conversations about inclusion being more than giving students something else to do, like keeping score or filming, but creating the conditions for them to participate fully.

Sporting Wheelies also connected the school experience with opportunities and infrastructure available in the surrounding community, helping students and families see that participation did not have to end when the school program finished.

With more than 3,500 schools receiving funding each term, and 45 sport partners helping bring Sporting Schools programs to life, there are countless opportunities to create experiences like this across Australia so that everyone has a place in sport. The opportunity is there, but it's up to schools and sports to seize it.