Tessa Jowell, Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Olympics, gives her thoughts on whether there will be an Olympic Legacy which inspires young people to choose sport
Read full Article here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15774788
Writing in this week’s Scrubbing Up column, leading sports medicine specialist Dr Andy Franklyn-Miller warns that the physical competence of future generations is being put at risk because of a failure to give PE the same priority as other subjects in the school curriculum.
He contrasts the support that is available for children who struggle in maths or English with the approach to physical development, cardiovascular fitness and co-ordination – elements of what he calls “physical literacy”.
“Let us achieve future success now by building in a PE curriculum that embraces push, pull, squat, brace, rotate, accelerate and change of direction.”
Dr Franklyn-Miller argues that there should be compulsory tests for these skills at each of the key stages as children progress through school.
“Let it be competitive and let us test our children against each other and identify those who need support from the network of physicians trained in sport and exercise medicine as an existing Olympic legacy.”
Start to Move
The call coincides with an announcement by the Youth Sport Trust that it will train thousands of primary school teachers across England in specialist PE skills.
The charity’s new Start to Move programme, funded by private medical firm Bupa, offers free training and support – focusing on the same principles of physical literacy rather than particular sports. The aim is to reach all primary schools in England in the next three years.
But its chief executive, Baroness Sue Campbell, is against the idea of testing.
“Whilst I’m all for assessment, all for challenge, all for encouraging the best to develop and supporting the less capable to catch up, I think if you introduced very rigorous testing in the way that’s being described, I think that could have quite a negative impact on some children.”
WIN a trip to the Olympic
Stadium next April for
your school!
Are you ready to go for Gold? Get your school involved
in the build up to London 2012 by taking on Olympic
and Paralympic sports to raise funds for vital medical
research into child health.
Challenge your pupils to cover 2012kms by running, walking, cycling,
swimming, kayaking… just choose your sports and commit to raising funds
for Action Medical Research.
Register before the end of November to be in with a chance to take part in
the Gold Challenge Stadium Parade in the Olympic Stadium.
Click onto the link to find out more.
http://familygoldchallenge.org
Megan Hopkins, Volleyball Development Coach for Warrington School Sport Partnership and Volleyball England, received fantastic news today when she heard she had been selected on merit as one of only 2 VDCs across the country to take part in the fantastic ‘International Inspiration’ programme as part of the London 2012 legacy.
International Inspiration aims to deliver on the Games’ bid promise to ‘reach young people all over the world and connect them to the inspirational power of the Games, so they are inspired to choose sport’. Working in countries all over the world, International Inspiration aims to use sport as a positive force to enrich the lives of over 12 million young people.
Megan will be travelling to Tanzania in 3 weeks time to spend time in training local people so that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to run volleyball programmes in their own communities and to inspire people to do something positive through sport.
No doubt Megan will have an amazing time and is sure to get as many people loving the sport in Africa as she has already in Warrington! We wish her all the best and hope she’ll come back with plenty of pictures and information to share with us.
Read more about the International Inspiration project here
Gareth A Davies comments on changes to school sport funding:
Follow the link to read the telegraph article outlining a feared reduction in school sport opportunities across the country following the Comprehensive Spending Review:
Warrington SSP and William Beamont Community High School have been successful in their bid to become a ‘Project Ability’ school.
Project Ability aims to establish a national network of 50 of the most successful mainstream and special schools at providing opportunities for young disabled pupils to take part in sport. These schools will receive funding and resources to:
Project Ability is a bespoke project within the School Games to help drive and increase opportunities for young disabled people to take part in competitive sport. Project Ability is focused on building capacity within the school workforce to ensure opportunities for young people are progressive, competitive and shared across groups of local schools.
Schools delivering Project Ability will use the School Games as a vehicle to increase the depth and breadth of PE and school sport opportunities for all young disabled people.
The Project Ability Schools will:
Increase the quality and quantity of competitions for young people with a disability by working with a minimum of 10 local schools to commit to, adopt and promote the School Games and its values:
Build capacity in the workforce to support this focus on inclusion:
Share effective practice and collaboration at a local level to maximise opportunities:
This is an exciting opportunity to build on some already great work being done in developing inclusive sport opportunities for young people, and we are excited to get started!
Toby Helm, the Observer’s Political Editor, comments on the Government’s School Games
This year’s Warrington Sports Awards is set to take place on the 19th October 2011 and nominees for the following categories are sought; Club of the Year, Coach of the Year, Special Recognition, Disabled Sports Achiever, Young Volunteer and Volunteer of Year. Nomination is open to Warrington based clubs and residents. An overview of each reward is below.
The Awards this year will take place at Warrington Parr Hall and the event will serve to highlight some of the excellent achievements in sport locally. The Warrington awards also act as a precursor to the Cheshire and Warrington Sports Awards and the winner of each of the above categories will automatically be put forward to represent Warrington at this event on the 16th November.
The awards are a perfect opportunity to recognise sporting achievement and highlight some of the talent and dedication of our local athletes, clubs and volunteers so please don’t hesitate to nominate!
To make a nomination please go to http://www.warrington.gov.uk/home/leisure_and_culture/sport_activities/aset/ to download a nomination form and return it using the details on the form.
The Categories are:
Club of the Year
A community club marked (or equivalent) club that has excelled whether that is through gaining the Club mark, success with performance or gaining a new facility.
Coach of the Year
A coach who has shown commitment to a wide range of individuals at grass roots or elite level.
Disabled Sports Achiever
A person who has competed in a sport at a local/regional/national level
Special Recognition
To recognise a person, club or association that has made an outstanding and exceptional contribution to sport in some way
Young Volunteer of the Year (Under 18)
A young volunteer (under 18) who has shown a high level of commitment within a sport setting.
Volunteer of the Year
A volunteer who has shown a high level of commitment, particularly within a sport setting.
So many talented athletes from across the globe will come together to test their stamina and compete to achieve their goal. So what will YOU be doing to push yourself to the limits over the next twelve months to mark this once-in-a-lifetime event?
www.Legacypledge.org is a fun, interactive site that encourages Cheshire and Warrington residents to do something different to mark the year of the Games. Whether its learning to drive, changing your career, losing weight or simply a promise to have more fun Legacypledge.org will publish and celebrate your video pledge and help you to connect with organisations that can support you to achieve your goal. You can share your pledge with friends, support other pledgers and even post your videopledge on your facebook or twitter account to share with the world!
Launched under the ‘Embrace the Games’ programme of activities in Cheshire and Warrington and supported by Sport Cheshire the site will also offer a range of exciting rewards and incentives to help you to keep on track and can connect you to local Embrace the Games’ events. So why not be amongst the first to make your pledge today; simply record your ambition and upload your video clip at www.legacypledge.org . For more information contact anne@bigsocietyworks.com
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