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Slide 2 Fionamarie Kearney Slide 3 Working as a coach for the Ulster Council delivering the Physical Literacy Programme gave me the opportunity to base my research for my Masters Degree on the effectiveness of the programme. This involved benchmarking. Slide 4 Physical Literacy is about choosing fun activities that will enhance childrens abilities in the areas of agility, balance and co-ordination. It also explores the skills of running, jumping and throwing. Catching, passing, kicking and striking are further core skills that are learnt (GAA Fundamentals Manual, 2000). Slide 5 Benchmarking is a self- improvement tool for organisations. It allows for comparison with others, and to identify strengths and weaknesses and learn how to improve. Slide 6 When used appropriately, benchmarking has proved to be a very effective tool for bringing about improvements in performance. It can be used to for coach self- analysis or analysis of players. Slide 7 Benchmark the class/group as a whole Opportunity to benchmark individuals as well. Slide 8 Teachers were asked to complete a benchmarking questionnaire. It was aimed at evaluating teachers perceptions on their own ability and the ability of the children in their class in relation to Physical Literacy. Slide 9 I asked the class teacher to fill out the questionnaire at the beginning of the programme, the middle and the end. Slide 10 Creativity Confidence Self-esteem Slide 11 Slide 12 Slide 13 Brainstorm ideas in groups of 2- 3, activities you could do in your coaching session that would involve developing creativity. Slide 14 Slide 15 Slide 16 Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide 20 Slide 21 Form A Teachers Benchmarking Pupils at End of Programme Slide 22 Slide 23 Slide 24 Slide 25 Form B Teachers Benchmarking themselves at Middle of the Programme Slide 26 Slide 27 Form B Teachers Benchmarking themselves at End of the Programme Slide 28 Slide 29 A total of 40 teachers completed the benchmarking. Each one of them noted a vast improvement in all areas of development. Teachers commented how the programme improved childrens self-esteem and confidence. Slide 30 The results are averages taken from the 40 teachers individual markings at the beginning, middle and end of the programme. BeginningMiddleEnd Creativity247 Confidence458 Self-esteem358 Slide 31 Slide 32 Analysis from the teachers own benchmarking indicated that their confidence of delivering Physical Literacy has increased significantly from the beginning to the end of the programme. Slide 33 In groups of 3 or 4. A) Discuss the benchmarking form and how you could use it in your club. B) What would the positives and negatives be? Slide 34 Questions Slide 35