April 2009 £2.75 Sport and fitness for today’s youth Britain’s Got Talent finalists Strike have launched a new project aimed at getting kids active. Danny Ball, 23 and Liam Richards, 20 hit the scene last year after appearing on the ITV show, showcasing their acrobatic martial arts routines. The pair have teamed up with Leisure Connection and Harpers Fitness to deliver classes for five to 16 year olds. Full story, Page 11 By Mary Ferguson A SCOTTISH gym owner is campaign- ing for subsidised gym memberships for children – blasting government for not doing enough to tackle rising levels of obesity. Greg Dalgleish, owner of Hawick- based Think Fitness, has written to the Scottish Executive to push for increased funding for initiatives that get young people active, claiming simi- lar programmes in England are leaving Scotland behind. He said: “As far as I can tell, the Scottish Executive’s focus seems to be on nutrition, diets and school food, rather than a balanced diet and activity strategy. This is probably why every third child in Scotland is overweight and why our overweight children grow into obese adults who will bankrupt our health service.” At Think Fitness, Greg operates a sep- arate studio with hydraulic equipment suitable for young people and offers a reduced school membership of £15 a month. But, he said, there are still those that can’t afford it. “The Executive give vouchers out for computer courses so why not for gyms? There seems to be so much available for kids in England at grass roots level and Scotland can learn from that. The NHS in Scotland has worked with local authority run leisure centres for years but some private clubs are better equi- pped with better staff, so better posi- tioned to make a difference. The NHS and the Executive must realise that clubs like us are part of the solution – not spectators in this war on obesity.” Scotland has the second highest level of obesity in the developed world and according to Greg, a lack of Executive intervention will only make the prob- lem worse. He added: “I look at my English colleagues getting excited about their Government’s ‘Change 4 Life’ campaign and I cannot believe that we’re not doing something similar in Scotland. How much worse does it have to get before we do?” A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: “This Government has taken decisive action to tackle obesity and increase the levels of physical activity across the Scottish population. We are providing local government with record levels of funding and many councils run innovative schemes to encourage children to get involved in physical activity.” Full story, page 10 Campaign for subsidised gym for kids Sharron to throw book at fitness FORMER Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies has revealed she is so worried about kids’ fitness she is getting involved with a book designed to help families be healthy. Sharron told Future Fitness as children will eat what they are given and copy what they see adults doing, it is important to set a good example when it comes to nutrition and fit- ness. She said: “Kids mimic what they see adults doing. “If they see you working out or eat- ing healthily, they will copy you. We need to set the right examples. “I am looking into a book on kids’ fit- ness and and how as a family we can be healthy. I am really concerned about it.”
Transcript
April 2009 £2.75Sport and fitness for today’s youth
Britain’s Got Talent finalists Strike have launched anew project aimed at getting kids active. Danny Ball,23 and Liam Richards, 20 hit the scene last year afterappearing on the ITV show, showcasing their acrobaticmartial arts routines. The pair have teamed up withLeisure Connection and Harpers Fitness to deliverclasses for five to 16 year olds.Full story, Page 11
By Mary Ferguson
A SCOTTISH gym owner is campaign-ing for subsidised gym membershipsfor children – blasting government fornot doing enough to tackle rising levelsof obesity.
Greg Dalgleish, owner of Hawick-based Think Fitness, has written to theScottish Executive to push forincreased funding for initiatives thatget young people active, claiming simi-lar programmes in England are leavingScotland behind.
He said: “As far as I can tell, theScottish Executive’s focus seems to beon nutrition, diets and school food,rather than a balanced diet and activitystrategy. This is probably why everythird child in Scotland is overweightand why our overweight children growinto obese adults who will bankruptour health service.”
At Think Fitness, Greg operates a sep-arate studio with hydraulic equipmentsuitable for young people and offers areduced school membership of £15 amonth. But, he said, there are still thosethat can’t afford it.
“The Executive give vouchers out forcomputer courses so why not for gyms?There seems to be so much available
for kids in England at grass roots leveland Scotland can learn from that. TheNHS in Scotland has worked with localauthority run leisure centres for yearsbut some private clubs are better equi-pped with better staff, so better posi-tioned to make a difference. The NHSand the Executive must realise thatclubs like us are part of the solution –not spectators in this war on obesity.”
Scotland has the second highest levelof obesity in the developed world andaccording to Greg, a lack of Executiveintervention will only make the prob-lem worse. He added: “I look at myEnglish colleagues getting excitedabout their Government’s ‘Change 4Life’ campaign and I cannot believethat we’re not doing something similarin Scotland. How much worse does ithave to get before we do?”
A spokesman for the ScottishExecutive said: “This Government hastaken decisive action to tackle obesityand increase the levels of physicalactivity across the Scottish population.We are providing local governmentwith record levels of funding and manycouncils run innovative schemes toencourage children to get involved inphysical activity.”Full story, page 10
Campaign forsubsidisedgym for kids
Sharronto throwbook atfitnessFORMER Olympicswimmer SharronDavies has revealedshe is so worriedabout kids’ fitnessshe is gettinginvolved with abook designed tohelp families behealthy.
Sharron toldFuture Fitness aschildren will eatwhat they are givenand copy what theysee adults doing, itis important to seta good examplewhen it comes tonutrition and fit-ness.
She said: “Kidsmimic what theysee adults doing.
“If they see youworking out or eat-ing healthily, theywill copy you. Weneed to set the rightexamples.
“I am looking intoa book on kids’ fit-ness and and howas a family we canbe healthy. I amreally concernedabout it.”
A SPORTS leaders’ course hasbecome so successful that studentshave to apply just to be acceptedonto it.
The Mayfield School SportsPartnership project is so popularwith pupils an application systemhas had to be introduced to helpdecide who gets to join up.
The project runs in six schools inthe London borough of Redbridgeand aims to teach secondary pupilshow to work with local kids andinvolve them in sports activities assports leaders.
But each term there are only 15
slots – and with up to 50 pupilsapplying every time, project organ-isers have had to come up with afair selection system.
Kids wanting to join now com-plete an application form, statingwhy they would like to be a leader,what they think the most importantresponsibilities of the role are andwhat experience and skills theycould bring to their academy group.
Ally Traynor, partnership develop-ment manager, said: “Because thecourses are so over subscribed weare having to work with the headsof year in order to make sure weselect the right pupils each time.
“We try to get a good mix of kids
who will all bring something differ-ent to the team – some who weknow will be good and will be ableto help others and some who mightbe more of a challenge, but whoinvariably go on to surprise us all.”
The students attend ten weekly,two hour sessions which gives theover 14s a Level One award inSports Leadership.
They are taught leadership andorganisational skills and get thechance to put them into practice asthey help run a community club forfive to eight-year-old children.
Once the course is completed, thepupils then move onto a communi-ty placement in a local primary
school, helping out at after schoolsports clubs.
Andy Rehling is head teacher atthe Mayfield School in Dagenham,which was one of the first tobecome involved in the scheme.
He said: “I would recommend ascheme like this to any school,because it gives pupils the opportu-nity to shine in a completely newarea.
“A couple of difficult students inparticular really have changed theirapproach to school with improvedself belief and independent think-ing – it has really made a huge dif-ference.”
Sports leader course proves a hit with Redbridge pupils
03 10/3/09 16:06 Page 1
news4
Professor Julien Baker
By Mary Ferguson
RESEARCHERS behind an exercisestudy at a school in Wales claim theresults could change the country’shealth policy.
Working with pupils at Porth CountyCommunity School over five months,exercise scientists from the Universityof Glamorgan will be monitoring obe-sity, physical fitness, cardiovascularrisk factors, diet and psychologicalwell-being amongst 400 pupils aged12 and 13. The exercise sessions willbe two hours per week for 18 weeks.
In the first study of its kind, they willbe carrying out exercise while doingtheir day to day national curriculumbased studies while completing anactivity knowledge circuit.
The study will monitor the improve-ment – or not – in the children’shealth over the period, as well as tak-ing into account the children’s exer-cise and eating habits outside ofschool hours.
The study is led by Professor JulienBaker of the University of Glamorgan.He said: “We will be exploring theeffects of diverse exercise interven-tions on the health of the young peo-
ple as well as their perceptions of ahealthy lifestyle, and perceived barri-ers to healthy living in this popula-tion.
“The study’s findings will help guidefuture intervention studies forimproving young people’s health, andinform and shape future health andeducation policy in Wales.
“The project is truly innovative andin terms of the obesity epidemic, willbe an excellent way of informingfuture policy.”
The project has received £20,000 infunding from the Sports Council forWales and the aim is to roll it outacross schools throughout the UK.
Steve Bowden, head teacher at Porth County Community School told Future Fitness: “There’s a lot ofevidence already available that suggests increased physical activity can increase academic per-formance.
“We were drawn to this studybecause of the way it combines thetwo and if our predictions are correctand the pupils do lose weight andincrease their health, it will be a bigstep in moving things forward.”
Study could impacton health policy – researchers
Ireland sports outreachprogramme secures fundingBy Lyndsey Smith
A SPORTS outreach programme inNorthern Ireland has won fundingthat will allow it to be delivered toprimary schools.
Nearly £240,000 has been awardedto the university of Ulster by theCoca-Cola Foundation for a Sport forLIFE project aimed at both studentsand teachers.
The 12-week programme will go to100 schools with sports ambassadorsencouraging activity in the schools.
Dr Deirdre Brennan, programmedirector, said: “Obesity is a growing
issue in society, with research show-ing an increase in the problem inchildren and teenagers.
“This project endeavours to tacklethis by encouraging not only activelifestyles but also healthy livingamong primary school children –something that can stay with themfor the rest of their lives.
“We will place our sports specialiststudents in schools, which willenhance their skills and knowledge inteaching young children in physicalactivity settings as well as transferringthis knowledge and expertise toschool teachers.”
‘University pathway to sport’A UNIVERSITY in South Yorkshire hasupgraded its sports facilities to pro-vide access to sports education andequipment.
Sheffield Hallam has refurbished itsPearson building to include astrengthening and conditioning suite,an upgraded movement studio, a new physiotherapy area, andimproved changing facilities, toiletsand gym.
Olympic silver medallist andregional director of the EnglishInstitute of Sport, Peter Elliott MBE,opened the new facilities.
He said: “The university pathway to sport is very importantfor Britain – you can't be a successfulathlete without hard work and
training.“Sheffield Hallam University should
be very proud of what it has achievedhere, and I look forward to welcom-ing world-class athletes that havecome through the university in thefuture.”
The strengthening and conditioningsuite, known as the HighPerformance Hallam training facility,is designed specifically for high-per-formance athletics training.
The gym has been kitted out withLife Fitness equipment and also has anew ‘FitLinxx’ computerised system – an intelligent electronicbuddy that will guide users througheach workout, tracking their fitnessprogress.
A new Little Gym franchise has opened in Harpenden, bringing the number of UK sites to seven.Owner Lindsey Venner said she had been searching for the right premises for three years, for the clubthat offers a motor skills and curriculum-based gymnastics programme for children from four months to12 years. Lindsey said: “I’m excited to bring the concept to my home town – it’s a business that fits inperfectly with my own family and I’m really looking forward to seeing it bring benefits to local childrentoo.” Pictured: Lindsey and the new staff at Little Gym Harpenden
Claims that childhood obesityis not a problem in the UKCHILDHOOD obesity is not aproblem in the UK and the gov-ernment’s intervention strate-gies are doomed to failure, ithas been claimed.
The controversial claims comefrom researchers at theDemocracy Institute, who saythere is little evidence that weface an epidemic of overweightchildren – and that claims tothe contrary are wrong.
Obesity researcher Dr PatrickBasham – who produced thestudy with Dr. John Luik – said:“There simply is not a body ofclinical evidence that showsthat overweight and obese chil-dren have notably poorer healthoutcomes than other children.
“We don’t go into the base-ment and create our own num-bers – the irony is that the fig-ures we quoted in our ownstudy are the government’s ownnumbers.”
Dr Basham added that accord-ing to the Health Survey forEngland, obesity amongst boysand girls aged between two and15 has been declining since2004. Girls’ obesity levels in2006 were largely unchangedfrom where they were in 2001.
Dr Luik added: “It’s tremen-dous irony that the govern-ment’s claims about childhoodobesity are not supported bythe facts produced by the verysame government.”
04 10/3/09 16:08 Page 1
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By Christina Eccles
A SOMERSET gym has employed a marketingco-ordinator to make sure young people in thearea know what sport and exercise facilities areavailable to them.
Sedgemoor Splash in Bridgwater had previ-ously struggled with getting young peoplethrough the doors – despite offering dedicatedsessions for the 14 to 16 year old age group.
But according to gym instructor Tom Russell,its lack of success may be down to theteenagers not actually knowing what the gymcould offer them.
By employing someone specifically to marketthe gym and its facilities, he hopes they willnow have more luck.
He said: “I think maybe the problem waspartly because they didn’t know what wasavailable. If they know what is available andthat it is not going to cost them an arm and aleg then we may find we will get a few more inhere. We have got a marketing co-ordinatorwho is concentrating on that so hopefully itwill pick up.
“We are going to start with leafleting and seeif that takes off and then maybe go out intoschools ourselves. We may be able to set uplinks between us and the schools to offer dis-counted membership for those who heardabout us through their school.
“This will help us to get more customers andachieve our goals and also to do our bit for thecommunity.”
The gym is also offering hour-long personaltraining sessions for this age group – both in
the gym and in its swimming pool and byoffering a taster session for £10, six sessions for£42 and 12 for £84 hopes it will provide a goodvalue opportunity for local kids to getinvolved.
Tom added: “We are offering the personaltraining to try and introduce them into thegym and give them a better understanding ofhow to achieve their goals. It is a good way ofgetting them involved at a reasonably cheapprice.”
Tom Russell
Gym in marketingplan to attract teens
A SCHOOL holiday sportsprogramme is bringingpupils from Birminghamto the attention of topnational football clubs.
Sports Action, based atthe National Indoor Arena,has seen 20 youngstersover the last four yearsinvited to attend profes-sional football academies– with many more joiningrespected football clubs.
The scheme waslaunched by Audrey FlashMBE, who has worked
with young people in thecity for over 40 years. Thetraining sessions, held inschool holidays, are led byAlan Cross, a former semi-professional footballer andsports teacher.
Recent discovey JonKalender, 14, was taken toBirmingham City FCAcademy and signed athalf-time in his firstmatch.
He got a four-year con-tract and ended last sea-son as player of the year.
John Kalendar with Audrey Flash and Alan Cross.
Scheme uncovers talent
05 12/3/09 13:44 Page 1
news6
Gym musclingin on youthfitness marketBy Mary Ferguson
A BODYBUILDING gym is encourag-ing a new generation of fitness fanat-ics by dropping its prices for kids andteaming up with a secondary school.
The owners of Kent-based MinistryOf Muscle claim that despite being‘worlds apart’ from the centresschools are normally attracted to, thepartnership with Aylesford SchoolSports College has proved a huge suc-cess.
Gina Iaquaniello, who runs the gymwith Steve Winter said: “Schools arebecoming more aware of budgets andwe are cheap – plus we are withinwalking distance so it saves on trans-port costs.
“The kids train here in the after-noons when we are quite quiet butwhen our big guys are around, theyare always very friendly as they knowthey may appear intimidating. Theyalways make an effort to talk to theyoungsters and put them at ease.”
The year ten and 11 pupils visit thegym as part of their PE lessons but
Gina and Steve noticed them comingout of school hours too.
“Our non-member fee is normally£5.50 a session but to make it moreaffordable to them, we dropped it to£2. We don’t make any kind of profitfrom dropping the price so low, butwe are shaping members of thefuture and also keeping them off thestreets.”
Children are allowed in from age 14and have to obtain written permis-sion from their parents. The mosthardcore equipment is out of bounds.
Gina added: “We are one of the onlygyms in the country to offer Atlasstones but the kids aren’t allowed totouch them and they respect that.
“It’s good for some of the kids to bein here because even though theymay act big on the streets, in the gymthey are small fry next to our giantmembers. As soon as they stepthrough the door they are automati-cally respectful of them. It’s actuallyreally nice to watch them interactingtogether.”
By Lyndsey Smith
URBAN basketball is being offeredby a school sports partnership inMedway to help tackle anti-socialbehaviour.
The Greenace SSP is runningStreetball events aimed at none-sporty children aged between 13to 19 once a month – and 60turned up for the first session.
Vikki Soles, assistant partnershipdevelopment manager, said: “Thekids were keen to have somewhereto go that was safe and where theycould have fun.
“The atmosphere is easy going,with loud music in the back-ground, young referees and afriendly relaxed environment thatencourages participation and fun,rather than competitive sport, andhopefully this will continue to
appeal to every kid and not justthe sporty ones.”
The project is run with help fromthe police and youth services andis funded through SportUnlimited.
Vikki added: “A downturn in anti-social behaviour has already beenreported. We hold the sessions sixwhile nine on a Saturday evening –a time when the kids have saidthey have nothing to do and justhang around.
“It’s has also been beneficial interms of getting the police inter-acting with with the kids, going along way to breaking down barri-ers.”
Based at the Greenacre SportsHall, the hub for the partnership,the project also invited girls fromlocal dance and cheerleadinggroups to take part.
Introducing Streetball ... First try for rugby festivalTHE FIRST ever rugby league tag fes-tival for primary schools in SouthCentral and South Liverpool SchoolSports Partnerships has taken place.
Year five and six youngsters got ataste of festival rugby league with the RFL supporting the whole of thecity.
John Farrell, RFL development offi-cer, said the plan was to unite the cityin a World Cup style event in June.
He added: “We have been running
competitions in north and north cen-tral for a few years but we are nowfortunate that kids in schools all overMerseyside will have access to rugbyleague on a competitive basis.
“We have supported two differentfestivals and the two localised eventswill come together, hopefully with 16schools from each area.
“Each school will represent a different country and make their ownflag.”
Sport England puts up £10mRURAL communities have received a£10m boost as they aim to createmore sporting opportunities for localpeople.
Sport England are to invest themoney in the first of a series ofthemed funding rounds that enables
communities to tackle specific chal-lenges and opportunities that exist ingrassroots sport.
They aim to ensure investment iseffectively distributed across thecountry and across different commu-nities.
06 10/3/09 16:10 Page 1
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DOUGLAS Simpson had beenheadteacher at Fortrose Academyin Ross-shire for 17 years when hisbrother took up unicycling.
He stepped up to the challenge,learning himself, and has nowpassed his skills on to more than100 students.
He said: “I thought if he can do it,so can I and after a lot of practicefinally managed to master it.
“It seemed to be a fun thing tointroduce to the school and aftergiving the kids the opportunity totry it out they took to it very enthu-siastically.”
The school was given an ‘out-standing’ mark in its report fromHM Inspectors of Education andthe unicycling project was given aspecial mention for its positiveimpact on pupils, especially thosewith low self esteem.
Douglas added: “I think schoolsshould be about a lot of things, andthat includes having as much funas possible as well as aiming forhigh achievement.
“Unicycling worked because noone had ever tried it before, givingeveryone an equal chance of suc-cess.
“It especially seemed to appeal tokids who were a bit isolated or out
of the mainstream and before longwe had over 120 really competentunicyclists.”
In August, Douglas moved toNairn Academy on a secondmentand took some unicycles over withhim. He now runs a unicycling clubonce a week and over 30 pupils andtwo staff are already competent rid-ers.
There are over 20 unicycles piledup in his office and the pupils candrop in whenever they want to takethem out for practice.
He added: “Something like thisreally re-trains the pupils’ attitudeto school, as well as giving themsomething to do in their spare time.
“We have had special needspupils taking part and for many it isthe first thing they have every reallyexcelled at, which is wonderful.
“It has also been a very positiveway for me to enhance my relation-ship with the kids, as I get to inter-act with pupils that I had mainlyonly seen for negative reasonsbefore, but now I can congratulatethem instead of reprimandingthem.”
Douglas is now planning on intro-ducing a series of new challenges,including getting the kids jugglingwhile unicycling, riding unicycleswith no seats and start learning toride penny-farthings.
He said: “I think that any form ofexercise is great, but this way it isalso combined with a challenge tobe overcome, which is wonderfulfor self esteem and gives the pupilsa real boost.
“I believe that thinking outsidethe box can really help if you arelooking for results like this –schools need to come up with waysto capture the kids’ imagination –and look what follows.”
A Scottish head teacher has been praised for inspiring his pupils to take up a new and challenging sport –unicycling. Louise Cordell reports
Headteacher peddles unicycling
Douglas Simpson
07 10/3/09 16:11 Page 1
news8
Swimmingloss leadspupils to gymBy Lyndsey Smith
A SCHOOL in St Helens has capi-talised on the loss of its swimmingprovision by taking its kids circuittraining.
Lansbury Bridge Special School –for pupils with a broad range oflearning difficulties – came up withthe idea after teachers were told theycould no longer have their Fridayafternoon swimming slot at a localpool.
PE co-ordinator John Morris wastasked with finding an alternative and– after speaking with the owner ofThe Gym in Golburne, where he wasa member – it was agreed his kidscould begin training there.
John said: “The kids have reallytaken to it and while it is great physi-cal activity it is also a fantastic per-sonal and social experience.
“They are used to structured schoolactivity. This allows them to get outand about, integrating with the gen-eral public.”
The kids are given time to famil-iarise themselves with equipment,learning how to set them up properlyand learning about health and safetyissues.
“We start them on cardiovascularequipment like treadmills, crosstrain-ers and rowers and this helps them
with wider learning like numeracyand science – for example if I do somany steps I burn so many calories.
“Once they are in the habit of usingthe equipment they can progress. It’sa gradual build up. We introducebasic principles and set training to alevel they can access – a pace theycan cope with and an intensity theycan live with.
“We give them the challenge ofbeing active for 30 minutes – tenminutes on a machine then swaparound so they are using three differ-ent pieces of equipment, and they arestarting to notice other pieces now.
“We are crossing over to the multigyms which again links in to widerlearning as they become aware oftheir antagonistic muscle groups –that if they exercise their chest theyhave to exercise their back – it’s allabout balance.”
The school now plans to call onmore local facilities in a bid to widensports provision and John added:“The PE national curriculum hasloosened its parameters and if we canjustify the five learning strands wecan pretty much do what we want.
“We can call more and more onlocal facilities and knowledge, bring-ing in outside help and giving thekids wider learning experiences.”
Olympic gold medallist SallyGunnell has become the newambassador for a youthsports festival in Brighton.The champion hurdlerapproached the organisers ofTAKEPART, a citywide sportsprogramme for children aged5 to 16, after the success ofthe festival’s launch in 2008.Andy Marchant, partnershipdevelopment manager forBrighton Schools SportPartnership – who help runthe event – told FutureFitness: “Sally is hugely pop-ular in the area and will be amassive benefit to the festi-val. She is already generatinga lot of interest in the eventand her involvement willhopefully pave the way forother sporting stars to getinvolved in future years.”TAKEPART takes place in Juneand is a joint initiativeorganised by Brighton SchoolSport Partnership, Brightonand Hove City Council andthe Primary Care Trust.
School nets Olympic medallist visitOLYMPIC medallist Gail Emms led abadminton masterclass to mark hernew role as an athlete mentor for SkySports Living for Sport.
Pupils from Idsall school,Shropshire were taught the basicsbefore taking part in singles and dou-bles matches.
Gail joins a team of athlete mentorsled by Olympic gold medallist DarrenCampbell, and she said: “I am reallylooking forward to visiting schoolsand mentoring young people.
“I was helped by a variety of people
throughout my career and fullyappreciate how positive an effectmentoring and sport can have onyoungsters”.
An independent study on theimpact of Living for Sport carried outby The Institute of Youth Sport atLoughborough University said that68.7 per cent of teachers reported theproject had a positive impact onreducing bullying in their schools,and 80 per cent of pupils sustainedpositive impact at 12 and 24 monthsafter the end of the project.
TWO primary schools in Colchesterare working with universityresearchers to improve fitness byincreasing participation in outdooractivities.
Willow Brook Primary School andLangenhoe Community PrimarySchool have joined forces with theUniversity of Essex for the project,funded by Heart Research UK.
Led by researchers at the Centre forSports and Exercise Science at theUniversity, up to 200 pupils at eachschool will take part in outdoor activ-ities ranging from skipping andFrisbee to orienteering.
Lead researcher Dr Caroline Angus
said: “Nowadays children have lessaccess to safe outdoor play and theamount of time children spend play-ing outdoors has almost halved in thelast 20 years. The aim of this study isto find new ways to encourage chil-dren to be more active and developstrategies to help schools to increasephysical activity.”
The project will provide a total of 12weeks of activities, with differentactivities running for a two weekperiod, over winter and summer.Before the activities began the pupilsundertook a range of tests to estab-lish basic health, fitness and activitymeasures.
Pupils at Willowbrook Primary School take part in the research
Two Colchester schools bidto boost outdoor activities
08 10/3/09 16:50 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE 9
A LADIES only gym in Kent hopesto boost its membership by offeringit to secondary schools to use for PElessons.
Julia Harris, who owns ChangesHealth Club in Bexleyheath, hasbeen working with the FIA on theChange 4 Life campaign to offer analternative to traditional sports.
Now, she closes her gym onMonday afternoons so the 28 stu-dents from St Catherine’s CatholicSchool for girls can use it free ofcharge.
Julia said: “I split the group into
two, with half doing gym work andthe other half a class, such as step,body pump or box fit. It shows thegirls that there are different exercis-es they can do other than playingnetball or hockey. It has been bene-ficial to us as well because it intro-duces the gym to a new group ofpotential members.”
She also teaches the studentsabout how they can improve theirlifestyle, nutrition and food.
Julia became the sole owner of thegym two years ago, having been aco-owner for more than 20 years.
MP David Evennett at the launch of the scheme with Changes proprietor Julia Harris,the FIA’s Henry Tapp and children from St Catherine’s Catholic School for girls.
Gym owner Julia invitesstudents to use facilities
‘Competitive sport couldput kids off exercise for life’By Mary Ferguson
FORCING children to play competi-tive sport in school could put themoff exercise for life, it has beenclaimed.
Keith Budge, head teacher of theprestigious Bedales Schools inHampshire, told Future Fitness thatmaking pupils take part in traditionalteam sports when they don’t want tocan be ‘frightening and humiliating’.
He said: “At many schools, sport canbecome part of it’s culture, which isfine if you happen to be good at it.But if a pupil has no interest in it – oreven a fear or loathing of that partic-ular sport – it can potentially be quitedamaging.
“And if they are made to do it and
hate it, then the danger is they will gothrough their lives associating allsport with those negative feelings.”
Keith said teachers should put moreemphasis on participation and enjoy-ment rather than results – which canbe a particular problem at fee-payingschools.
“The last thing I would want to do isto encourage pupils not to do teamsports. But at Bedales we have takena view which is rather different to thistraditional model.”
The schools are working to offer awider range of sporting activities,enabling students to volunteer forteam sports if they want to, ratherthan having to opt out if they don’t.But, he said, it costs more money andmore organisation time – meaning it’s
not feasible for everyone.“With rugby, you can involve 30
plus boys and one teacher for awhole afternoon with just a ball andsome grass, but other sports requiremore intensive coaching andresources.
“We are lucky that we can manageall that and we realise it’s not feasiblefor every school. But sport is not theonly way of engaging pupils with thethrill and benefits of being in a team– drama, musical ensembles or dancetroupes can all have a similar effect.
“I’m all in favour of team sport, butas schools we just have to be moresavvy about how we develop theopportunities available to pupils. It’svital that there is a strong emphasison their enjoyment of sport.”
Anyone fortennis?TASTER sessions held in an age oldsport have inspired youngsters in theNorth East to take up further coach-ing.
Year ten pupils at Heaton Manorschool in Newcastle were given anintroductory course in real tennis lastOctober and this proved so popularfurther opportunities have now beenarranged for extended group and indi-vidual coaching.
The NSSP has linked up withJesmond Dene Real Tennis Club – oneof only 39 courts left in the world –and Ted Baty SSco said: “It is a com-plicated, but hugely enjoyable gameand ideal for anyone already interested in sports such as cricket, asit helps develop good hand-eye coordination.
“It’s also perfect for competitive playas the handicapping system allowsnovices to compete with more experi-enced players and still enjoy a goodgame – the pupils are very keen toreturn for further coaching and com-petitions.”
Studentsrecruitedby NikeSIX Loughborough students havebeen recruited by Nike as ambassa-dors to help empower women andgirls in sport.
They will be working together with-in a wider team of 14 sport ambassa-dors making up the largest numberfrom any one university.
Involved in advertising campaignsand Nike events they aim to encour-age women to train to be stronger inbody and mind.
Loughborough graduate PaulaRadcliffe was involved in the selec-tion process and she said:“Encouraging young women to con-tinue sport participation is vital if wewant to see young UK talent competeat the highest level and prove we havewhat it takes to be world class ath-letes.”
Youngsters fromprimary schools inHastings took partin a five-day multi-sports camphosted by freedomleisure at itsHillcrest SportsCentre.Activities includedmulti gamesassault courses,athletics, teambuilding exercisesand specially-created games runby the coaches, aswell as football.
Andy supports youngsters at leadership eventBy Lyndsey Smith
GREAT Britain middle distance run-ner Andy Baddeley was on hand tosupport youngsters at the firstLondon 2012 Student Leadershipevent.
The Richmond School SportPartnership, hosted the event – thefirst of its kind in the country – and
over 100 young people representingevery secondary school in the areaattended.
Each school produced an actionplan looking at practical ways inwhich the Olympic Games could beused to engage young people in posi-tive physical activity in school.
Director of school sport GaryPalmer said: “We were proud to host
the first of these new workshopsbefore they are delivered right acrossthe UK.
“Our young people have embracedand supported fully the many proj-ects that we have run in recent yearsand that is why we have such highlevels of involvement in school sport,club sport and leadership pro-grammes in schools.”
09 10/3/09 16:25 Page 1
news10
By Mary Ferguson
AN independent gym owner haslaunched a school fitness programmefunded entirely by himself.
Linking with Hawick High School,Greg Dalgleish opened his facilities topupils after realising there were nosimilar government funded initiativesin the country. Active At School – runby the Fitness Industry Association –is free for gyms in England but is cur-
rently not subsidised by the ScottishExecutive.
The programme ‘buddies’ FIAmembers with local schools and fea-tures activities designed to appeal toboth sporting children, as well asthose with little or no interest in PE.
Greg, who implemented the pro-gramme without any local or ScottishExecutive support, said: “It’s cost usin terms of buying in the resourcesand paying for instructor time but it’s
worth it for the difference we aremaking.
“I think a big part of the pro-gramme’s success was that it got thekids involved in exercise outside ofthe school environment.”
The pupils aged 14-15 visited thegym for six weeks, taking part in box-ercise workouts and circuit sessionsusing hydraulic equipment. At theend of the period, they were present-ed with certificates from local MSP
John Lamont. Sandy Wilson, Hawick High School’s
principal teacher, added: “Most of thepupils who opted to participate inthe programme aren’t really sporty,but all of them absolutely love it – thegirls in particular. Now, some wouldlove to do PE every day and that’s areal testament to Greg and hisinstructors. We don’t have the samefacilities and therefore cannot offeranything similar.”
Greg DalgleishMSP John Lamont with some pupils from the programme
Gym owner funds own programme
Fund doubles cash for promising youngstersTHE KIRKLEES Sporting LegendsFund has doubled the amount offunding available to the borough'spromising young sports people.
The fund aims to help a greaternumber of young sports men and
women in achieving their sportingambitions, and last year awardedover £3,500 in individual grants to 37aspiring stars in a range of sports,with 11 of these going on to representeither England or Great Britain
To qualify applicants must be aged11 to 19 and of performance ability,competing at county or equivalentlevel, attend school or play for asports club in Kirklees. Their sportmust also have a governing body.
Elite sportscentre opensin BristolAN ELITE sports performance centrehas opened at Bristol university aim-ing to help the development and per-formance of athletes.
The £60,000 centre is equipped withthe latest in strength and condition-ing apparatus and aims to help ath-letes in the areas of speed, strength,power agility, endurance, reactiontimes and stability.
Gordon Trevett, high performancemanager, said: “This will add a wholenew dimension to sports perform-ance at the university.
“Thanks to the new equipment anda full-time strength and conditioningcoach we can now drive our sportsperformance programme to a muchhigher level.”
The facility will also house anotherof the university’s sports medicineclinics, offering physiotherapy, sportsmassage, injury treatment and pre-vention.
A TRAINING company is to offer freecourses to create more than 500coaches devoted to improving chil-dren’s health.
FitPro will offer fully funded placeson courses leading to their CYQ Level 2 Certificate in InstructingHealth-Related Fitness for Children.
The qualification covers everythingneeded to teach effective and safechildren’s fitness classes includinganatomy, physiology, class controlmethods and the practicalimplications of training with children.
Laura Baker, training and educationmanager, said: “It will really helppeople that have no or limitedknowledge of teaching children to befully confident and capable of run-ning a motivational and educationalclass.”
The course is suitable for existingfitness professionals looking to specialise in children’s health and fitness, adults who’d like to re-trainfor a new career, or for peoplealready working with children andyoung people who want to developtheir skills to include health and fitness.
Coachescourseson offer
Have you got news for us? Call the FutureFitness news team on 01226 734472 or email [email protected] or send your news to Future Fitness newsroom,47 Church Street, Barnsley S70 2AS
10 10/3/09 16:26 Page 1
news 11
LIAM Richards, 20, and Danny Ball,23 are a unique act with their highintensity, explosive energy and syn-chronisation.
They burst onto the scene whenthey punched, kicked and flippedtheir way into the final of the TVshow, and with over 15 million peoplein the UK tuning in, Strike achievedtheir goal of making martial artsentertaining, and inspired many totake up the sport.
Now after being approached byHarpers Fitness, they are set to over-see classes for five to 16 year olds, asthey turn their passion for coachingkids into a reality.
Liam said: “This has been some-thing we have always looked todoing. We have both been involvedfrom a young age and we want toshow that this is a great physical workout. It also improves self confidenceand discipline in a funky and coolway that makes it fun.”
Harpers approached the lads afterseeing them teaching students on aDVD and together they are able to rollout a specially structured programmeacross nine of their sites with aneventual aim of 50.
Each routine involves a mixture ofmartial arts moves at levels suitableto the class.
Danny said: “The various moves aretaught in a fun way before pulling
them together to create fully choreo-graphed performance routines.
“We draw inspiration from differentstyles such as free style karate, kick-boxing and capoeira, and we willeventually hope to roll it out on amore extensive scale.”
The classes will run for one hourper week with three blocks of 16weeks per year, and the boys havebeen training instructors in theleisure centres to teach their sessions.
Danny said: “We have trained up 12instructors so far starting with thosethat have a martial arts backgroundor are boxercise instructors.
“We now have at least one per sitewho can teach kids what we do bystarting with the basic moves andthen it is all down to progression – it’san ongoing thing.
“The kids will also be given a teach-ing DVD so they can practise athome.”
Liam added: “We have already beenlucky enough to inspire many peopleto take up martial arts in the last year,and it is a huge reward for us know-ing we can raise its image across thecountry.
“We hope people will see theseclasses as something different. Thekids love all the razzamataz – it issomething to get them engaged – it isa hook – and it makes it seem thattouch more glamourous.”
Strike – the martial arts duo made famous by Britain’s Got Talent – combine different styles of martial arts,acrobatics, gymnastics and dance, all choreographed to music. Now they are focusing on getting more kidsinvolved. Lyndsey Smith found out more.
Martial artsduo strike goldwith unique act
Liam and Danny in action as Strike
Liam Richards and Danny Ball
11 10/3/09 16:27 Page 1
news12
A HEAD of PE has quit his job and setup his own company to introducemartial arts and self defence classesinto schools.
Martin Pattison – a chief martialarts instructor – left his role at StNeots Community College to formStreet Style Martial Art with fellowdirector Giovanni Varriccjio, takingon a three day role as a school sportscoordinator at Stantonbury, MiltonKeynes instead. The company allowsteachers to deliver six-week blocks ofself defence lessons, within the cur-riculum.
Martin said: “I wanted to go moreinto this line of work and see howmuch the kids gained from it. I thinkmartial arts and self defence areextremely beneficial and should betaught to kids from a young age.
“We need to engage them in funfilled and motivational activities andthis can also be used to help disaf-
fected students, non-participants orthose low in self-confidence whorarely participate in traditionalsports.”
Martin believes implementing selfdefence into PE lessons from asyoung as the age of five is beneficialboth physically and mentally.
“We learn skills such as blocks, kicksand palm strides as well as breakaway techniques. It all helps improvestrength, suppleness, stamina, speedand agility. It is very good for weightloss and as an outlet for other ener-gies. Psychologically it turns kidsfrom followers into leaders and kidslearn courtesy, integrity, persever-ance, self-control and indomitablespirit – they can transfer all theseskills over to school and home life.”
He has created lesson plans, reso-urce cards and instructional DVDSfor teachers and has even run a cou-rse showing them how to deliver it.
Martin Pattison, right, with fellow director Giovanni Varriccjio.
Martin chops his job to setup martial arts company
Richmond’ssporty kidsrocket to 400By Lyndsey Smith
THE number of gifted and talentedsporty children in Richmond hasrocketed from 16 to 400 in just threeyears.
The figures show that in 2006 only30 per cent of the 20,000 kids in theborough had taken part in competi-tive sport. There were only 17 festi-vals a year and no definitive competi-tion structure in place. Now, a com-petition manager oversees 73 festivalsincorporating 17 different sports, and15,000 kids have taken part.
Gary Palmer, partnership develop-ment manager of Whitton School andSports College, said the differencehad been the introduction ofCompetitive Edge – a schemedesigned to increase participationrates in sport by providing newopportunities for young people totake part in competition.
“We wanted to develop life longparticipation through developinglinks into community sports clubs
and encourage talented youngstersinto higher performance sport byestablishing performance pathways.
“In our first year we held aSuperstars competition along with atag rugby and cricket festival – nowwe have 17 different sports and weare beginning to outsource now.
“For example the Harlequins clubsare running our rugby festivals andthe local cricket club run the cricketfestivals - every sport has to have acommunity link.”
There are 200 sports leaders in eightsecondary schools and 15 in 16 pri-mary schools. Every school runsmulti-skills academies.
The programme is implemented bythe local authority and delivered bythe Richmond SSP in conjunctionwith the Sports Development Team,Sport Richmond and St. Mary’sUniversity College.
Initially funded by the LEA, they willnow invest £50,000 per year and theRugby Football Union have agreed afive figure sponsorship deal.
Youngsters meet rugby union’s Jonny Wilkinson at Twickenham as part of the CompetitiveEdge project
HOLIDAY park operator Haven haslaunched a new scheme to encouragechildren to get into sport from anearly age.
The Fun and Fitness schemeinvolves the company donating achest of equipment to nurseries andpre-schools, to help them meet therequirements of the national curricu-lum for children to exercise.
The chest contains soft foam flyers,scoops and balls, bean bags, hoops,cones, throwdowns and a floor para-
chute.Naomi Woodstock of Haven
Holidays said the company decidedon the ambitious venture followingthe success of the Wake and Shakechildren’s exercise sessions it holdson its holiday parks.
Fronting the scheme are Britishchampion athletes Francesca Jonesand Keziah Gore, who gave performances of their gymnasticskills at two launch sessions inBirmingham.
Holiday operator launchesFun and Fitness scheme
12 10/3/09 16:27 Page 1
news 13
By Louise Cordell
YOUTH workers delivering sportsprojects spend over a third of theirtime filling in funding paperwork, areport has revealed.
The findings, published by the AuditCommission, show that while sportand leisure activities are important tostop young people from drifting intoanti-social behaviour, many projectshave problems that threaten theirsuccess.
Reporter author Emma Belton said:“There is 30 years’ worth of researchthat shows that projects like these arereally effective in engaging youngpeople.
“However, workers are being hin-dered by difficult and wasteful fund-ing systems. Many leaders are spend-ing up to a third of their time onadministration, when it would bebetter spent with the young peopleinvolved.”
The report suggests that more fund-ing schemes should be pooled toreduce administration costs. Another
problem highlighted is the relativelyshort periods that funding lasts for –the longest rarely continue after threeyears and many are far shorter.
The report adds there is no guaran-tee of funding renewal and the risk ofclosure means that staff may have tostart looking for other work or spendtime searching for more funding.
Emma added: “Either one of theseoptions lead to the young peoplebeing neglected and those that wespoke to felt very let down andbelieved that there was no pointengaging in new projects becausethey might lose those too.
“It would be better if funding waslonger term – with a minimum limitof closer to five years.
“Obviously there will need to bemonitoring during this time but itwill give the project more secure andmake it much more effective in thelong run.”� What do you think? Send yourcomments to Louise Cordell [email protected].
Funding paperchain hindersyouth workers
A programme of sports activities for dis-abled children and young people has beenlaunched in North Yorkshire.The sessions are running at Bedale LeisureCentre and incorporate recognisedSportability games such as Boccia – abowls type game suitable for all abilities –as well as football, cricket and athletics.The club will enable young people with a
disability and/or special educational needsto regularly participate in communitysport, with a view to joining mainstreamcommunity sports clubs. The initiative ismanaged by representatives from SpecialSchools Sports, Extended Schools,Hambleton District Council and TheFootball Association, and is partially fund-ed by The Local Strategic Partnership.
By Mary Ferguson
PUPILS at a school in Birminghamare being shown how to reach theirsporting potential the Oriental way –with training from a former coach ofthe Japanese Olympic Athleticssquad.
Mike Oluban, a former member ofthe Parachute Regiment, has beentraining and mentoring a small groupof young people from Aston ManorSchool.
He has taken a break from being anOlympic coach to work at grass rootslevel because he believes that withthe right support and positive direc-tion young people can fulfill theirpotential in sport and within them-selves.
He said: “The teachers at AstonManor are doing a really good job. Mywork complements this, and the stu-
dents are benefiting from workingwith adults who occupy a differentrole, and have a record of sportingachievement.
“The work that we do is sports con-ditioning, intense athletics trainingthat really tires them out and teachesthem how to discipline their bodies.
“I have had young people say to methat they have difficulty walking aftertheir training and it's true, we workextremely hard. But we work withthem on issues around individualresponsibility and moral character.”
Mike is working alongside MikeWynter, a former research scientificofficer at Aston University, who ismentoring the students. He talks tothem about their aspirations to helpthem build their self-esteem andreach higher levels of attainment, andencourages them to talk about theirexperiences.
Mike watches pupils hurdle
Oriental teachings ...
13 10/3/09 16:28 Page 1
news14
By Louise Cordell
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to bring thenew sport of Tchoukball into schools to get thecountry’s children fit.
The initiative is being run by the TchoukballAssociation of Great Britain which is asking sec-ondary schools and youth clubs from Norfolk,Suffolk and Hampshire to get involved.
Andrew St Ledger, campaign project manager,said: “We are trying to target secondary schoolsand get into as many as possible to deliverteacher training courses.
“We need to train teachers up because at themoment we don’t have enough coaches todeliver the sport to all the kids who want toplay.
“It is about trying something new for achange, not the same old sports, and it is a realleveller because everyone starts at the samepoint - so it is attractive to both sporty and nonsporty kids.”
Tchoukball is a fast handball sport whichinvolves nine a side teams trying to score pointsby rebounding the ball off of a small trampoline
and onto the floor. The game is being promoted an an ideal sport
for schools as it can be played in a one hour PElesson in a sports hall or outside and the factthat it is non-contact means boys and girls canplay at the same time.
Also, because it is so different to traditionalsports it tends to attract pupils who are notusually interested in PE or games.
The association's ultimate aim is to get allschools integrating the sport into their curricu-lum and organising inter-school matches andtournaments.
Andrew added: “The main aim for schools isto get kids playing more sport but they alsorecognise that a lot of kids won’t go for the sameold thing.
“Young people love trying something differentand Tchoukball is very easy to pick up – theycan get the hand of the basics in just an hour.
“Now we hope to grow and spread to newareas – as we are working towards official recog-nition status as a sport and increased participa-tion will help with that.”
Tchoukball is being promoted an an ideal sport for schools
By Louise Cordell
SCHOOLS with autistic pupils should be lookinginto ways to use exercise to help to control diffi-cult behaviour, according to an alternative cur-riculum teacher.
Becki Coombe has completed a research proj-ect looking at the effect of exercise on the behav-iour of autistic pupils. She carried out the studywhile working as PE coordinator at BaskervilleSchool in Harborne, a special school for studentswith autistic spectrum disorders.
She observed six students over the course of ahalf term, recording their behaviour in lessonsfor 20 minutes before and after intense exercise.
In between each session the pupils rode on anexercise bike for five minutes at a high speed inorder to get their heart rate up and get them outof breath.
Then, when observing the pupils’ behaviourafter the exercise, she counted the frequency oftheir stereotyped behaviours to see if this wasreduced.
She added: “The behaviour I was looking forchanged depending on the pupil, from shoutingor hitting out to rocking.
“But the results suggested that just five minutesof exercise reduced these behaviours significant-ly.
“I had heard about other theories that suggest-ed exercise makes children calmer and morefocussed and, going on that principle, I wantedto see if it worked in a school environment andspecifically with these children with specialistneeds.”
Becki believes that, even if the method was notused on a regular basis, it could provide a useful‘time out’ tool for particularly hyperactive pupilsand could even work well with mainstream kids,although further research would need to bedone in this area.
She added: “Some schools struggle to knowhow to deliver PE to children who are on the
autistic spectrum.“But I think it is definitely worth increasing this
knowledge because there are huge benefits. “At Baskerville School we used extremely repet-
itive warm ups and cool downs, which wouldhave no attraction for the mainstream kids, butthat the autistic pupils found very helpful, whichmade introducing new skills during the lessonmuch easier.
“It is definitely an understudied area and thatis a shame, because I think it is an area wherereal progress could be made.”
Becki considers effect ofexercise on autistic children
Becki Coombe
A SUCCESSFUL young leaders’ programme in Newcastle has seen an out of hours’ games club introduced.
Year five students trained to become young leadersand offered the club as part of their training.
Teacher Jennifer Herbert said: “The year five studentsare now in year six, and 14 of them have stuck with theproject, volunteering their own time and showing greatdedication and motivation, turning up regularly eachweek.
“The games club has become a huge and continuing success, largely due to the enthusiasm of the KS1 and KS2 children and mutual cooperation.”
Games club proves acontinuing success
14 10/3/09 16:40 Page 1
football 15
CROWN Hills CommunityCollege had grass pitchesprone to flooding andunplayable ash surfaces mak-ing outdoor provision diffi-cult.
For a school aiming for asports specialism it was aproblem that had to be recti-fied. A deal with Goals SoccerCentres in 2003 not only net-ted them 12 synthetic five-a-side pitches but a £100,000lump sum welcome paymentand annual income of£27,500.
Doug said: “The initialmoney helped us raise thecapital we required to gainspecialism status as well ashardcoring a large previouslyunplayable surface that waslike a dustbowl in summerand porridge in the winter.
“This has given us six net-ball courts and four tenniscourts complete with kickboards for free play – it hastotally revitalised our outdooroptions.
“The annual rental wereceive also enhances oursport provision.
“It has allowed us to purchase a mini-bus as wellas equipment and ICT soft-ware.”
The money also goestowards transportation costs,courses, employment of out-side coaches and part salarypayment for a PE technician.
“There has been a hugeimpact on PE lessons.
“Whilst we predominantlyteach football we also deliverhealth and fitness lessons and
athletics.”
Crown Hills’ partner pri-mary schools also use thefacility and Doug says this isgiving them a pathway tosport.
“We are exposing them tocompetition at a young ageand familiarising them withthe school before they moveup and it also allows them tomeet children from otherschools.
“Keyham Lodge – an educa-tional behavioural difficultyschool – also have access andwe have seen these oftenextremely difficult studentsdisplay much improvedbehaviour, and our ownlearning mentors also use itas a hook for our more disen-gaged pupils.”
A school in Leicester improved its outdoor football facilities six years ago andbelieves the wider benefits have been immense. Lyndsey Smith spoke withassistant principal and director of sport, Doug Keast.
Pitch plan provesa good move forLeicester school
Doug Keast
15 10/3/09 16:41 Page 1
football16
I GOAL – it’s in the bag.The Safe Pair of Hands campaign is
headed by Redyset brandAmbassador and ex-Englandgoalkeeping legend Peter Shilton, pictured above, and there is no onewith more goalkeeping knowledge or experience to endorse the IGOAL.
The Redyset roadshow will be visit-ing various locations includingOxford, Manchester and London giv-ing everyone a chance to come alongto the interactive day and see thebenefits of IGOAL and how this canimprove everyone’s enjoyment offootball.
These can be used by teachers andcoaches at all levels and help toincrease teaching time for sport andgrow participation in football.
Available in seven sizes and theJunior (U10’s 7v7) and Intermediate(9v9 U12’s), the goals are tested andcertified to BS8462:2005 andapproved for matches by The FA.
They are also available via theFootball Foundation Goalpost Safetyscheme.
Enjoy a footie experience anywherewith this truly portable goalmouthwith its own storage bag, pre-attached net and 2-way pump.
All are backed by a one year’s manu-facturer’s guarantee.
This gives peace of mind that allparts are tested to their limits.
For more details please visit the websitewww.redyset.com or call 0844 800 8530.
Shilton backs campaign
Girls onlytournamentkicks off ...A FOOTBALL project designed to engage12 to 18 year olds has rolled out its firstgirls only tournament.
Kickz is run by 39 Premier and FootballLeague clubs and now has over a 100projects involving more than 20,000youngsters.
Over 50 girls competed in the latesttournament, representing Arsenal,Brentford, Chelsea, Leyton Orient,Millwall and Tottenham Hotspur.
Lynette Obika, project officer said:“Some of our projects now engage up to25 per cent female attendance, which isa great platform for us to build upon.
“Girls’ football is getting very popularbut there haven’t necessarily been theopportunities there are now. The girls arelearning to play with girls from otherareas, as well as learning to play with selfcontrol. These opportunities are great forbreaking down barriers and demonstrat-ing that young people have so muchpotential.”
Football in the Community’s assistantdevelopment manager for LondonDaniel Gill added: “Chelsea Kickz runtwo projects in this borough and I amnow very pleased to be able to offer thegirls the same opportunity that the boyshave always been so willing to take up.”
The project sees coaches work withlocal police to offer high quality footballtraining and competition, as well asother activities such as music work-shops, in some of the most disadvan-taged areas of the country.
OVER 1,000 football enthusiastsare expected at this year’sGrassroots Football Live exhibitionto be held at Birmingham NEC inJune.
The three-day event will feature acoaches arena and clinic, skillstraining for eight to 15 year olds,skills zone – a football theme park– plus panel discussions anddebates.
The line-up of guests include for-mer Aston Villa and England man-ager Graham Taylor, Stoke City
manager Tony Pulis, Aston Villaand England international CurtisDavies, former Wolves and WestBrom favourite Don Goodman,and ex West Ham striker TonyCottee.
Former England under 21 headcoach and current Wycombe bossPeter Taylor will be giving coachingmasterclasses, and former foot-balling legends Paul Merson, RayParlour, Steve Claridge and NevilleSouthall all return for the secondyear to play for the Grass Roots
Football LIVE Allstars.Sky Sports pundit Chris Kamara
will compare the event which takesplace between the 12th and 14thJune.
Don Goodman
Over a thousand expected at exhibition
Merseyside teens go to campBy Lyndsey Smith
MERSEYSIDE youngsters were giventhe opportunity to attend a local FAleadership camp after the cancella-tion of regional events.
The camps aim to offer opportuni-ties for 16 to 18 year olds, trainingthem in a number of areas beforeusing them as long term advocatesand volunteers within FA charterstandard clubs.
Football development officer AnnaFarrell explained that regionalcamps were usually held, with nomi-nations then put forward for nation-als, but in the absence of those theyheld their own. She said: “The basicprinciples are the same except theregional process is a lot easier interms of nominations. We usuallysend youngsters to these camps andthen they are put forward for nation-
al camps – this year we have to whit-tle down our young leaders and putthem forward ourselves.”
41 young leaders took part and the13 to 18 year olds enjoyed a day ofpractical workshops designed to givethem an insight into how they canget involved in developing the grass-roots game within their local com-munity. A wide range of aspects offootball development were deliveredincluding age appropriate coachingfor five to 11 year olds, an introduc-tion to disability football, refereeing,and a fitness, nutrition and healthylifestyle workshop.
Anna said the youngsters foundthe sessions very enlightening.“Overall it was an excellent day andit was great to see so many youngleaders involved.
“For most of them it was the firsttime they had been involved in any-
thing as structured as this and theytook to it very well.
“It was something different forthem. Pupils from Sandfield specialschool attended and our leaderswere involved in delivering a sessionfor them and later they took part ina referees workshop with Premier-ship referee Chris Foy – it was veryeducational.”
Liverpool FA were assistedthroughout the day by the Lanca-shire Skills Team, and worked inpartnership with the Primary CareTrust. Each young leader was pro-vided with football informationpacks on the next steps they cantake to develop their knowledge andAnna added: “They are the future offootball in Merseyside and it is imp-ortant to offer these opportunitiesand give them direction and supporton their development pathway.”
16 10/3/09 16:41 Page 1
football 17
By Lyndsey SmithA PAIR of Liverpool PE teachers whoonce taught Wayne Rooney have setup a sports academy to encouragethe next generation of football talent.
Neil Mingaud and John Williamsmet whilst working at NorthLiverpool Academy in Anfield, andhave launched Advantage SportsAcademy to encourage children to keep active during school holidays.
As well as helping the youngstersdevelop football skills, the sessionsare also designed to boost children’sself esteem and life chances – devel-oping aspects of teamwork, leader-
ship, creativity, determination andrisk taking.
Neil told Future Fitness: “As PEteachers, we see a lot of kids who dowell in sport at school but then theirparticipation tails off during the holi-days.
“We are getting a real mix of chil-dren here at the moment but in thefuture it may be that we open theacademy specifically to talented play-ers.”
The sessions take place at LiverpoolCollege during school holidays andare open to children aged five to four-teen.
Neil added: “We’ve had a couple of
Children at a recent academy
Playerstest outpitchesBy Lyndsey Smith
FORMER Leicester FC players wereon hand to test out new pitches at alocal sports centre following arevamp.
Gerry Taggart, Steve Walsh, MuzzyIzzet, and Matt Elliott visitedLutterworth Soccer Centre after theyswapped grass pitches for four syn-thetic ones to encourage five-a-sidefootball whatever the time or weath-er.
There has also been the develop-ment of a new soccer centre and spe-cialist coaching facility, perimeterand internal fencing, floodlights andequipment.
Club owners Terry and MarthaMatthews said: "In addition to thenew synthetic pitches, we have alsocreated a new club house forLutterworth FC and five-a-sideleague users, and on the same sitethere's a tennis club, dance studio,bowls club and a Montessori school.
"It's fast becoming a real focal point for the community and sur-rounding villages, and we are thrilledwith the enthusiasm with which peo-ple of all ages have received the newcentre."
A FULL-size football pitch will beinstalled at Sandwich TechnologySchool as part of a £500,000 scheme.
The project – part funded by theFootball Foundation – will see theartificial turf pitch installed at theschool which will also be available
for use by the local community.Matt Hunt, area manager for
Freedomleisure, which will managethe facility, said: “This will be atremendous asset for the local com-munity and will help promotegreater participation in team sports.”
New pitch ‘a tremendous asset’
kids so far that have really stood outand although we don’t have connec-tions to recommend people to profes-sional clubs, we make sure their par-ents always know how well they havedone.”
Rooney teachers set up academy
17 10/3/09 16:42 Page 1
news18
By Jonathan Williams
WITH an increased focus on sportand the up and coming UK hostedgames in 2012 and 2014, sport,especially youth sport, has beenbrought to the forefront of mediainterest.
There has been a huge increase insport funding and provisions foryoung people – for example the £21million recently awarded to 75sports colleges – and it is a realbuzz to have young person’s sportconsidered with such importance,and for facilities to have cash avail-able to increase provisions.
Naturally talented young peoplenow have the opportunity to reachtheir goals of elitism and mayberepresent Team GB, and the UKSchool Games are a great stage forthese gifted youngsters. It is a fabu-lous event that gives them thechance to perform, live and train asathletes.
The government are now realisingthe importance of sport and how ithelps all levels of the community,for example, utilising positivesporting role models to motivateyoung people which has resulted in
improved literacy skills and confi-dence.
However, we can not forget theother end of the spectrum – theyoung people who are not interest-ed in sport and activity.
What about these? Is fundingreadily available to these groupsenabling them to find activitiesthat interest them and help themget involved?
We need to ensure that each andevery child has the opportunity tohave an active life. This idea ofvariety needs to filter into allaspects of youth activity.
Therefore we should not bedebating whether a youth gym ismore effective than dance mats orfootball coaching, but have anunderstanding that a combinationof such activities needs to be onoffer.
We have to provide activity foreveryone so each young person willfind something they like or maybeeven excel in. Who knows, this initself could contribute to a nationof gold medallists.
It is essential we bridge the gapbetween elitism and grassrootssport in order to keep sports alive.
The grassroots form the base of asport and helps to catch thoseyoung people with natural flare.
The pathway from grassrootslevel to elitist needs to be estab-lished strengthened and main-tained - an idea SHOKK supportand have utilised since year one byalways providing our clients withthe most effective customer carepathway possible, which is passedon to their young members.
The nationwide Change4Life
campaign has highlighted this.Dedicated to getting the nationactive and healthy, Change4Lifehas demonstrated the absoluteneed to increase provisions to geteveryone involved in an active life.
So, is it possible to successfullyfocus on both areas of activity? Yes,it has to be and I feel it is a verynarrow minded view to think it isnot. � Jonathan Williams is CEO of Shokk
Back to the age old debate – sport versus physical activity
Centre makes a splash with swimming programmeA LEISURE centre has revised itsschool swimming programme toencourage kids to continue out ofschool hours.
The newly opened £15m MiddletonArena has introduced a 35-weekswimming programme for primaryand secondary schools.
Link 4 Life operate the site andJames Foley, operations manager forsports, said keeping the kidsengaged was all important.
He added: “20 schools are taking
advantage of the programme whichwe feel is better than the intensiveone we previously offered.
“It’s true to say kids can becomecompetent swimmers in a far short-er spell but the 35 weeks now allowus to maintain contact with theschools and pupils, instead of a sixweek spell and then no more. Thiscan only help us in getting kidsswimming out of school as well.”
The facility now has a dedicatedsports development officer whose
remit is to get kids engaged in physi-cal activity and targeting youngstersthat wouldn’t normally comethrough the doors.
The Friday Night Project is alreadygoing some way towards making thishappen. James said: “We run a suc-cessful youth project in conjunctionwith youth services and the youthinclusion programme.
“11 to 16 year olds can come anduse the facility on a Friday nightwhere we run classes for them such
as spin and circuit, and they can alsouse the sports hall for traditionalsports led activities.
“Of the most deprived areas in thecountry the Rochdale borough hous-es three and Middleton is one ofthem.
“We are trying to get some sort ofpositive engagement with the kidsand it’s not about output for us – it’sabout getting kids active and givingthem somewhere to go, it is notabout numbers through the doors.”
Hotel launches new range of youth activitiesBy Lyndsey Smith
A HOTEL in Scarborough haslaunched a new range of youth activi-ties to promote a more active lifestyleamong its members and guests.
The Crown Spa will provide activity
options for members’ children whilethey use the gym facilities, with staffbeing trained to deliver youthfocussed workshops.
Training was provided by SHOKK,and Kyle Wood, spokesman for thehotel said: “The classes we have run
so far have proved extremely popular,with parents very keen for their childto join in.
“We have also had local schoolsrequesting the staff to present theworkshops during PE lessons and thescheme has received so much posi-
tive response it is being wheeled outto the local community.”
The scheme is available to youngpeople ages 5 to 16 and the hotelplan to increase the number of class-es available and offer activity pro-grammes during school holidays.
DnD Software Services and Trainingwere delighted to launch their newPE Assessment ManagementSystem(PEAMS) at the Sports collegesconference held during 11/12 Feb 09.
PEAMS was designed to record KeyStage 3 and 4 PE Assessments withthe busy PE teacher in mind.
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New system launchedat sports conference
18 10/3/09 16:43 Page 1
news 19
CASTLE Community College in Kentaims to provide its pupils with thebest sporting opportunities andrecently was named Specialist Sports College of the Year at theTelegraph School Sport MattersAwards.
The school’s pupils now take part inactivities from the traditional footballand netball to the more adventurousfencing and trampolining and theirinvolvement has led to a markedimprovement in results throughoutthe curriculum.
The most noticeable impact hasbeen the results in the PE departmentat GCSE level, which increased from11 per cent A* to C in 2006 to 100 percent in 2007.
Simon Smith, assistant principal,said: “We feel that becoming a sportscollege is one of the best things weever did.
“Having a ‘can-do’ attitude makessuch a difference – it just takes one ortwo small thing to change in yourfavour and that completely changesyour point of view and suddenly somany other things become possible.It just shows that a couple of smallchanges can snowball into somethinghuge.”
The school became a specialistsports college in September 2005 andhas since been called ‘outstanding’ inan Ofsted inspection in 2007.
It is also the hub school for theDover District School SportPartnership, which consists of ninesecondary schools and 42 primaryschools, making it one of the largestin the country.
Castle is one of the country’s firstadvanced extended schools and pro-vides activities for pupils from eightin the morning until six at night.
The clubs that are currently themost popular are the ones requestedby the children, like fencing and
trampolining.
The school is also in the process ofbringing in new games, like dodge-ball.
Simon added: “All the things that have been introduced have led to a big improvement for kids andstaff.
“However, the pupils’ self esteemhas also improved and the clubs alsogive them a great opportunity tobuild relationships with the staffwhich they can then take back to theclassroom.
“This leads to improved behaviour,communication and achievement inthat environment too.
“There has also been a rise in goodattendance, as the kids turn up forthe breakfast clubs that they enjoyand because they are already engagedand focussed they are ready for learn-ing by the time lessons start.”
The college has introduced a docu-ment which highlights what sportslessons in the school worked andwhat improvements needed to bemade.
Simon added: “We sat down as adepartment and wanted to decidewhat high quality PE actually was.
“We came up with a lot of points forboth teachers and pupils to follow,including showing commitment andenthusiasm for the subject, for exam-ple by pupils remembering their kit,having confidence in what is beingtaught and aiming to show develop-ment in each lesson.
“It is all part of trying to produce aholistic approach to PE, sports andhealth – for both pupils and teachersand to give everyone an idea of whatis expected of them.
“Everyone finds that useful and itmeans there are clear goals for every-one to work to – leading to a sense ofachievement and wanting to achievemore.”
Seven years ago Castle Community College was in specialmeasures and threatened with closure. Now a specialist sportscollege, it is ranked seventh in the country providing over 60extracurricular fixtures a week. Louise Cordell reports.
Kent collegebounces backthrough sport
19 10/3/09 16:43 Page 1
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By Mary Ferguson
A NEW initiative designed to tackle obesity andincrease youth participation in sport has beenlaunched in Birmingham.
The Housing and Sport Network has been creat-ed by the city’s Ashram Housing Association andaims to bring together the housing and sport sec-tors.
It will enable sporting groups and housing asso-ciations across the country to work in partnershipto increase participation in sport ahead of the 2012Olympics.
The national network – the first of its kind in thecountry – will also target obesity, anti-socialbehaviour and promote community cohesion.
Edward Evans, who is leading the network, toldFuture Fitness: “Housing associations do a lot totry and improve the health of people on theirestates but have rarely worked with the sportingsector to do that.
“Their aim is to increase participation in sportbut they often fail to access youngsters in disad-vantaged communities. So because we have directaccess to these people, it’s a mutually beneficialpartnership.”
The introduction of the network follows the suc-cess of the ‘Bend it like Birmingham’ sport inclu-sion project, a partnership between Ashram, fourother housing associations and Birmingham CityCouncil.
The project saw more than 1,000 youngsters fromsome of the most disadvantaged wards inBirmingham being given an opportunity to getinvolved in a selection of sports.
The Housing and Sport Network will be launchedofficially at the House Of Commons in April andEdward said they are currently in discussions withSport England to become key sponsors for the ini-tiative.
He added: “We’ve had a good response from thesports sector so far but these things requiremomentum to really get them going.
“We need more inroads into the sporting com-munity and that is something the network is tryingto achieve.”
The Bend It Like Birmingham project
Bend it Like Birmingham projecttackles obesity through sport
Teacher claims special children may be missing outBy Mary Ferguson
CHILDREN with learning difficul-ties may be missing out on sportingopportunities because of a lack ofunderstanding of their needs, it hasbeen claimed.
Neil Mears, a PE teacher at Surrey-based special needs school St.Philips, also told Future Fitness it’snot fair to expect special needs chil-dren to compete against pupilsfrom mainstream schools.
He said: “At the moment there arejust not that many opportunities for
special needs kids to get involvedwith sport.
“Some of our pupils have attempt-ed to join local clubs but have beenunable to have their needs met,even if that just means awarenessand understanding. I’ve never hea-rd of a club point blank refusing aspecial needs child but sometimesthe suitability of the coaching canbe questioned – for example somekids may be told to get on with stuffthat they can’t actually do.”
St. Philips was recently asked tocompete in an indoor rowing com-
petition but had to turn it down,deeming it unfair for their pupils tobe competing against a mainstreamschool.
“One of the main challenges ismaking competitions fair and pro-viding a level playing field for allthe children. But part of that prob-lem lays with the categorisation ofwhat ‘special needs’ actually is, asit’s an umbrella term for lots of con-ditions.”
St. Philips is part of the SurreySpecial Schools Sports Association(SSSA) , a network of 40 special
schools in and around Surrey. Eachyear they put on 15 events wherethe 40 schools compete againsteach other. In the SSSA the cate-gories are split into moderate,severe, emotional and behaviouraldisorders and downs syndrome.
Neil added: “The SSSA is great andwe have had some very good expe-riences with other clubs too. Butthe drive to integrate special needschildren into mainstream schoolsmeans their needs often cannot becatered for when it comes to schoolsport.”
20 10/3/09 16:44 Page 1
School Sports Colleges conference 21
CHIEF executive of the YST, SteveGrainger, is unstinting in his beliefthat sport is a powerful vehicle forchange.
He believes opportunities to usesport to lead change in schools areendless, and whilst there has been asignificant change in education, andin elite and school sport in recentyears, one thing is certain – there is alot more to come.
Steve said: “Using sport to leadchange in curriculum design, in max-imising the school workforce, inchanging school ethos and in extend-ing our schools to work with thecommunity are just a few examplesof how this is happening.
“In the 21st century change isinevitable – it is our ability to max-imise opportunities and lever it tobring benefit to young people that ismost important.
“This will remain our biggest chal-
lenge and at the same time ourbiggest opportunity – success for ouryoung people will not simply be as aresult of us reacting to change orimplementing it but in our ability tolead that change.”
Steve revealed that the country’snetwork of 480 specialist sports col-leges had helped encourage nine outof ten children to be doing at leasttwo hours of high quality PE andsport a week. Five bands – coaching,competition, school/club links,young people leading the way andinnovation and delivery have beenput in place which aim to use thelegacy of 2012 to achieve differentobjectives.
Steve said: “Each division has astrategic aim. Coaching for examplewill use 2012 to pioneer an environ-ment where coaches are an integralpart of the school workforce, andcompetition will use 2012 to mod-
ernise competitive school sport, pre-senting and structuring it differentlyand engaging different youngsters.”
He added that school/club linkswould develop allowing young peo-ple to make the transition because ofthe system not despite the system,young people leading the way wouldcreate an environment where youngpeople deliver and develop changenot just receive it, and innovation indelivery to inspire those who say noto sport to say yes.
The conference welcomed 1,500delegates who discussed the workthey were doing in delivering thenational PE and Sport Strategy forYoung People and the aim to offer allyoung people access to five hours ofsport a week. Steve added: “We needto generate systematic change andit’s about leadership and innovation,thinking laterally and using sport topush the boundaries.”
Leading The Change was the theme for the Youth Sports Trust annual school sports colleges conference held inTelford. Lyndsey Smith reports
Sports chief believes sport isa powerful vehicle for change
Steve Grainger
Sports colleges praised for leading the waySCHOOL sports colleges have beenpraised for leading the way inincreasing the number of childrengetting two hours of PE and sportevery week.
Secretary of state for children EdBalls told a School SportsConference in Telford that 250,000more five to 16 year olds were tak-
ing part in physical activity thanthis time last year; 375,000 morewere playing competitive sportagainst other schools and 500,000more playing house and leaguematches.
He added: “It has been a remarkable year for sports col-leges, PE and school sport, as they
were once again the fastestimproving specialist school network in terms of GCSE passes.
“Year on year we are now seeing how PE and sport is beingused to improve standards in arange of subjects while nine out often pupils are doing at least two
hours high quality PE or sport aweek.
“Our ambition is to turn bestpractice into common practice andI know that sports colleges will help us get there and togetherwe can inspire others withNational Sport Week thissummer.”
Bid to bowl overpupils withcricket projectBy Lyndsey Smith
A PROJECT which aims toencourage more schools totake up cricket was launchedat the Sports CollegesConference last month.
The English Cricket Boardhas teamed up with the gov-ernment on the project whichaims to push cricket as a com-petitive sport.
Schools secretary Ed Balls told the conference:“Cricket is part of our nationalidentity.
“Not only does it have obvi-ous health benefits for youngpeople, it also develops themin other ways – co-ordination,balance, team work, tactics,and remaining calm underpressure.
“The first challenge will be toextend the reach of cricket inschools and clubs by focusingon getting more girls involved,small sided games or indoortournaments, and getting moreyoung people involved as officials, umpires or scorers.”
The English Cricket Boardhas agreed to offer an incentiveto the two schools who comeup with the best ideas for pro-moting cricket – each will get aset of 15 tickets for a match inthe ICC World Twenty20 atLord’s.
Pete Ackerley, head of devel-opment at the ECB said statis-tics show a 37 per cent increasein school participation foryears five, six and seven.Ed Balls addresses the conference
21 10/3/09 16:45 Page 1
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LISA Burdis of the Sacred Heart Girls High Schooland St Mary’s RC comprehensive set up a partner-ship with the Jenny Gallagher PerformanceAcademy in September to introduce street danceand cheer as an alternative after-school activity.
Six months on, she says it is one of the most suc-cessful ideas she has implemented in her six yearsin the post.
“Four of the girls are now part of a street cheerdance troupe and have received training from topdancers Laura-Anne Gill and Kymberlee Jay whocount Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Kanye Westamongst the people they have worked with.
“They are now part of Fusion who are traininghard in a bid to appear on Britain’s Got Talent andfor the girls to have become involved in such ashort space of time is amazing. They have workedreally hard with two of them having also qualifiedas assistant leaders.”
Lisa – named school sports co-ordinator of theyear for the Newcastle SSP – returned to Englandfollowing an eight-year post in a British school inSaudi Arabia and she said the change in sportingprovision from when she started has beenimmense.
“I worked with nursery kids through to year nine.Within school it was very similar to here but wehad a lot of transient students – those that werejust there for a year or two – so it was difficult tohave any continuation.
“The major differences were you could teachwithout discipline – the kids were so well behavedit was a treat – and all the children were taught PEby specialised staff, something that only happenshere with middle and secondary school children.
“Swimming was the major sport but it was very
traditional with netball, football and hockey – thesame as when I returned here.
“At that point the role of SSco was fairly new andwe had lots of training and support, and now sixyears on we are offering new and innovative activi-ties such as the use of a junior gym, dance mats orurban surfing to complement the traditional sportswe still have on offer.”
Lisa has been instrumental in developing a wholerange of new initiatives. Skipping workshops aredelivered in primary schools and they have alsohave a lead ambassador at the school who sup-ports young ambassadors in local secondaryschools who will deliver a four-week programme toyear three.
Young leaders are also in place with volunteersfrom year six running a key stage one games clubat one primary school.
One initiative Lisa is very proud of is the successof Living 4 Sport – a scheme designed to encour-age a spirit of adventure and creativity by usingsport to re-engage 11 to 16 year olds in school life.
“We had a group of girls that were very disaffect-ed, very disengaged and basically very challenging.
“I became aware of the project and saw it wasdesigned to help schools meet behaviour improve-ment targets, whilst keeping students fit andactive. It sounded perfect and I was keen to give togive a it a go.”
Lisa said although progress was slow they arenow at a point where the girls are keen to engage.
“We introduced activities such as rockclimbingand abseiling as well as weekly visits to a fitnesssuite and the kids loved it – they are like a differentgroup of individuals a year on.”
A North East school sports coordinator’s dance initiative has paved the way for some of her girls to audition forBritain’s Got Talent. Lyndsey Smith found out more.
Dance initiative girls in television bid
Lisa with youngsters
School introducesband system for less sporty pupilsBy Lyndsey Smith
A SPORTS league especially for chil-dren who don’t take part in sports hasbeen set up by a school nearWinchester.
Perrins School and CommunityCollege have implemented a ‘threeleague’ after PE teachers said it wasthe same old faces taking part.
Students were split into threegroups – sporty, average and no activ-ity at all – and the three league wasformed to get the last group active.
Tom Shepherd, PE teacher and headof rugby, said although take up wasinitially slow, it is improving. Headded: “It was an unfortunate factthat there were groups of kids withthe names we all knew while the oth-ers were virtually anonymous.
“We had to rectify this so brought inthe band system identifying the threeleaguers, kids that had a real aversionto sport.
“It can be so demoralising when youhave more talented kids dribblinground you or shooting past you andthis now gives them a chance to enjoyplaying with kids at the same level.”
Three league lunchtime clubs nowrun in football and basketball, along-side another initiative to help reengage students – taking certain
pupils out of other curriculum sub-jects and offering them sports coach-ing.
Tom explained that although thiscould never happen for subjects suchas English, maths and IT, peripheralsubjects such as French were makingway.
He said: “We had groups of kids inyears seven, eight and nine whoweren’t particularly confident andwere disaffected when it came tolearning.
“We decided to offer an alternative.For example we take ten or twelvestudents out of French once a weekand we have a fencing coach thatcomes in.
“At the end of the day these kids arenever going to take French as anoption in year nine so we attempt toengage them in something else.
“We use sports to try and at leastimprove their behaviour and getthem engaging over a broader area –getting them motivated and enjoyingthemselves whilst getting them physi-cally active.
“If we can re engage them in PEthen other areas of the curriculumand general school life should bene-fit.”
22 10/3/09 16:46 Page 1
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