January 2009 £2.75Sport and fitness for today’s youth

Children at Winterhill School in Rotherham are given tenhours of PE coaching on BMX biking, with the chance torevisit it later in the year. The school has bought 25 bikesand safety kits and has linked up with a BMX expert.Turn to Page 22 for more.

By Lyndsey Smith

A SCHOOL in Rotherham has hit theheadlines by offering BMX biking aspart of the PE curriculum.

The Winterhill School is the first inthe country to offer the sport and hasbeen featured on TV news pro-grammes and in local newspapers.

Rob McGinty, head of PE, was thebrains behind the BMX idea. He said:“Our PE was always very traditionaland a lot of students weren’t neces-sarily engaging, put bluntly they justdidn’t enjoy it, particularly the girls.

“The idea came because there is aBMX club with a track across fromthe school and we thought it wouldbe a good idea to see if we could linkup with these somehow.”

A new PE curriculum was intro-duced in September that allows forschools to operate in the ‘adventure’strand of teaching. This section alsoincludes indoor climbing and orien-teering.

Rob added: “The school itself decid-ed to fund the project. The head sawthe value, seeing an opportunity as Idid to engage more students and getparticipation levels up.

“We also thought we would see aknock-on effect in terms of the kids’self esteem and positivity that wouldspread into the wider curriculum.”

BMX biking is offered to those inyears nine to 11 and over 350 chil-dren are taking part.

Rob added: “There are a lot morekids out on their bikes after schooland the club is now indundated withthose wanting to join.

“It has also helped socially as thetrack as now become a hub area forthe kids, and there is a reduction invandalism as it’s their area and theywant to protect it.

“It’s very exciting. We are the onlyschool in country to offer BMX biking- others do mountain biking but notthis.

“You never know there might besomeone from this area that goesand competes in 2012 thanks to thework we have done within school.”� Is your school offering an unusualPE lesson? Contact Lyndsey Smith at47 Church Street, Barnsley, SouthYorkshire, S70 2AS or emaills@whpl.net.

BMX bikinggoes on PEcurriculum

Scheme isexpandedA FITNESS schemedeveloped to help chil-dren with behaviouraldifficulties has been sosuccessful it has beenexpanded for anotherthree years.

The Young Persons’Positive Moves project– run by GedlingBorough Council –provides health and fit-ness session for kidswith problems includ-ing autism and ADHD.

Spokesman HelenHoughton said: “Weare aiming to cater forthose children who arenot involved in main-stream fitness for otherreasons, includingbehavioural problems,certain medical condi-tions and low confi-dence.”

Staff running the ses-sions are trained todeal with the kids andthere is a very highinstructor to pupilratio to ensure theyreceive the attentionand supervision theyneed. Helen added:“Channeling excessenergy is so importantfor children with con-ditions like this andbeing able to take partin these exercise pro-grammes can make asignificant differenceto their behaviour.”

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Editor:Andrew Harrod - ah@whpl.netTel: 01226 734639 Reporters:Lyndsey Smith – ls@whpl.netTel: 01226 734472 Christina Eccles – ce@whpl.netTel: 01226 734463 Mary Ferguson – mf@whpl.netTel: 01226 734712 Louise Cordell – lcordell@whpl.netTel: 01226 734694

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Contacts

Boys wantto be like

DanielCraig

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Sally goesback toschool toopen newfacility

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Circulation enquiries to:Kelly Tarff -kt@whpl.net Tel: 01226 734695

‘Booster’ PE lessonsfor overweight kidsBy Louise Cordell

OVERWEIGHT children at a school inNorfolk are being given ‘booster’ PElessons because they are too unfit totake part in mainstream PE classes.

Downham Market High School isremoving them from the usual ses-sions and instead offering lunch timeand after school lessons, for boys andgirls separately.

Head of PE Judith Walton said: “Theoverweight pupils aren’t keen on PEclasses for obvious reasons, beingunfit made the exercise uncomfort-able and they didn’t want to beteased about their size.

“So we have been withdrawingthem from the mainstream lessonsand providing these specialist ses-sions instead.

“It is about teaching a basic level offitness – some of the kids are so over-weight that they have to get ontotheir hands and knees just to standup – so they really need the extrahelp.”

There are no more than 12 childrenin a class, but the school is now hop-ing to expand the scheme as thereare more pupils that need help thanthere are places available.

Judith added: “We put themthrough fitness and flexibility tests toshow them how unfit they are, as wefind that if they don’t acknowledgethe problem then they will not havethe motivation to do somethingabout it.

“Once they know they need to makechanges though, we have had somegood results.”

The school plans to continue theselessons and has also recently invest-ed in a new suite of fitness equip-ment.

The aim is to get the pupils doingsome kind of exercise every day, how-ever Judith is concerned that this stillmay not be enough.

She added: “We also feel it is veryimportant that children are gettingthe right messages about health andfitness from home, but unfortunatelythat is not always the case.

“So we are hoping that informationand ideas from these classes will filterback to the parents, so that they canget involved in doing their part.

“There is only so much the schoolcan do with time and money con-straints, so children and familiesneed to take the initiative too.”

The school facilities are used at lunchtime and after school by overweight pupils.

Visually impaired young foot-ballers from the North East havebecome the first in the countryto achieve a leadership qualifica-tion. The Junior FootballOrganisers course, organised bythe Football Association andBritish Blind Sport, was held inGateshead for 14-18 year oldsinterested in training and coach-ing practical football sessions toyoung children. British BlindSport’s development officer forthe North East, Tom Soulsby, said:“This course was the first of itskind in England and we are veryproud of that.Pictured: Tina Reed (Durham FA),David Jeffers (GatesheadCouncil), Tom Soulsby (BritishBlind Sport) with some of theyoung people who took part.

£36m drivefor varietyYOUNGSTERS will be able to try theirhand at a range of different sports aspart of a programme launched by theActive Surrey Sports Partnership.

The three-year programme is part ofthe £36m Sport Unlimited drive bySport England, promoting non-tradi-tional sports.

Paul Ainslie, grant manager for theActive Surrey Sports Partnership said:“This is a fantastic opportunity formore young people to become moreactive and enjoy and appreciate thebenefits of sport.

“We have had a great response fromclubs and coaches who want to giveyoung people the opportunity to getinvolved and perhaps try activitiesthat they haven’t tried before.

“We look forward to a successfulseries of projects and are looking for-ward to working with partners to planthe spring term activities”.

Activities are taking place across all11 boroughs and districts of Surrey,covering 15 different sports includ-ing athletics, badminton, basketball,boxing, canoeing, fitness, girls foot-ball, gymnastics, martial arts, move-ment and dance, multi-sports activi-ties, rowing, rugby, sailing andsquash.

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By Mary Ferguson

TEENAGE boys have changed theirperception of the ideal body, andare trying to pump up to lookgood, according to an expert.

Peter Muir, editor of Men’s Fitnessmagazine, commissioned a surveyinto exercise amongst its readers,which found 87 per cent of respon-dents want to become more mus-cular.

He also told Future Fitness themagazine is receiving an increasingnumber of letters from teenagersconcerned about their body shape.

Peter, who believes the male per-ception of the ‘ideal body shape’has changed, said: “A couple of

years ago everyone wanted to looklike David Beckham but sinceDaniel Craig played James Bond it’sall changed.

“Bulking up has become a lotmore popular whereas before itwas all about slimming down - butno-one wants the ‘heroin chic’ lookanymore.

“And we are getting a lot more let-ters from teenage boys wantingadvice on becoming more muscu-lar.”

According to Peter, many of theseyoungsters are turning to supple-mentation as well as the gym toachieve their desired body shape.

“Supplements are becomingmore mainstream whereas before

they were associated purely withprofessional bodybuilders.

“But manufacturers have done agood job of educating the massmarket and now the ‘average Joes’at the gym are realising they canhelp.”

“Some gyms will always have aproblem with steroids but thetrend amongst young men is tolook muscly to be attractive, not tocompete, so losing their hair andgetting acne from steroid use does-n’t appeal.”

He added: “Different body shapescome in and out of fashion and atthe moment it is definitely DanielCraig that men are trying to emu-late.”

DanielCraig

Boys ‘pump up to look good’

Leisure centrelaunchesyouth schemeBy Lyndsey Smith

A LEISURE centre in West London haslaunched a youth activity scheme inpartnership with a local primaryschool.

The Southall Leisure Centre, part ofActive Ealing council leisure services,has linked up with BeaconsfieldPrimary for the new Active at Schoolprogramme run by the FitnessIndustry Association.

Centre manager Andrew Rogerssaid: “Southall is above the nationalaverage in terms of obesity so we arereally keen to get both kids and adultsinvolved in some sort of fitnesswhether it be on an FIA scheme suchas these or using the sports centre fordifferent activities.

“We have been involved with the‘Go’ project and now we are signed upto do this. In my opinion the schemesare extremely beneficial in that theylink kids up with sport and physicalactivity out of the school environmentand that can only be a good thing.”

The centre also offers an active kidsprogramme for under 11’s and anactive teens programme for ages 12 to16. 13-16 year olds can enjoy mem-bership of the adult Bostons gym andtrain under the supervision of a gyminstructor during selected off peaktimes and active family membershipis also on offer with the centreencouraging exercise to become partof family life.

TEENAGE girls in Lancashire arebeing encouraged to get fit thanks tothe introduction of the Freddy Fitproject.

Seven secondary schools within theCounthill School Sports Partnershipin Oldham run the programme forgirls in years ten and 11.

Partnership development managerPaul Clarke said the scheme wasfunded through £20,000 lotterymoney which was allowed to be splitbetween 56 primary and seven sec-ondary schools. The project now has a96 per cent take up.

He said: “To receive funding youhave to have a sustainable project andto have a target group. Freddy Fit hasproved to be sustainable in that dur-ing their time in the school they trainup staff and young leaders so we cancarry on delivering the programmeonce their initial sessions have fin-ished.

“Our target group was chosenbecause year ten and 11 girls have thehighest drop off rate. They can findteam sports a bit intimidating andthere is the usual problems of selfesteem and confidence. This givesthem physical activity without theproblems.”

Former British karate champion RobLoft, founder of Freddy Fit, said. “Thisdemographic is notoriously hard toengage, so to have such a goodresponse from the girls is fantastic.” Freddy Fit founder, Rob Loft, with Counthill SSP pupils

Freddy Fit boostfor teenagers

Student linkwith centreSTUDENTS in Worcester havelinked up with a new £4m leisurecentre for their PE lessons andafter school clubs.

The Christopher WhiteheadLanguage College has tied withSt. John’s Sports Centre whichallows year ten and 11 pupils touse interactive equipment likeZig Zag Sportwalls and dancemats.

PE teacher Becky Jarvis said:“It’s motivated both the staff andstudents and we are all extremelypleased with the outcome, whichhas led to a very positive start tothe term. The equipment has def-initely been the highlight withthe students. It is amazing howeffective they are and how muchwork you can get out of the stu-dents without them thinkingabout it being PE.”

The school is now planningextra sessions. Becky added:“Their team work skills areimproving dramatically and theparticipation rate, particularlywith less able groups, is alsoimproving, with less students giv-ing up and stopping exercise.

“The less able groups havefound their PE lessons trans-formed and it has improved theirmotor skills, activity level, socialskills, confidence and motivationtowards PE.”

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By Lyndsey Smith

A FITNESS expert has hit out at com-ments that obese children should betaken into care – branding it as noth-ing more than headline-grabbingsound bites.

Andree Deane, chief executive ofthe Fitness Industry, spoke out after adebate at the National Obesity Forumwhich was discussing ideas to com-bat childhood obesity.

She said: “The comments madeappear to be no more than head linegrabbing sound bites, at best unhelp-ful in the fight against obesityamongst children, and at worst dra-conian and so potentially damagingto children they are not worthy ofdebate.

“It’s not rocket science that obeseand inactive kids tend to come fromobese and inactive parents. The cur-rent government strategy for engag-ing families is on the right lines but Icertainly don’t believe obese childrenshould be taken into care.”

Andree believes the key to tacklingthe problem is educating both par-ents and kids and she is supporting anew social marketing campaign to beaired next year.

She added: “The campaign will betotally family orientated, images ofyoung people in the family group,and it will be very relevant coming offthe back of three years of insightwork with families.

“Lots of parents don’t see their chil-dren as being obese. It’s all abouteducation.

“They have to want to stay fit andhealthy, they have to want to takepart in physical exercise, and the bestway for that to happen is to makeexercise fun whilst having somethingto aim for and making sure there is asense of achievement at the end of it.

“We need to factor in all the thingswe have learnt about exercise into asustainable programme that is funand motivational and that way wemay be able to move forward.”

Expert hits outat ‘head-linegrabbing’ remarks

Andree Deane

Cricketingcampaignhas impactCRICKET can have a significantimpact on children’s attitudes andbehaviour in state schools, accordingto new research.

Loughborough University’s Instituteof Youth Sport report says the gamecan help improve pupils’ confidenceand social skills, overcome culturalbarriers, generate enthusiasm withinthe classroom and increase activitylevels. Researchers evaluated theimpact of Chance to Shine, the Crick-et Foundation’s campaign to regener-ate competitive cricket in schools.

Ruth Jeanes, co-author of the report,said: “The research demonstrates thepotential of Chance to Shine to con-tribute to pupils’ wider educationalexperience. Children’s physical andsocial skills were felt to have improv-ed. We also found that pupils believedthey were considerably more activeand at higher intensity levels than intheir usual PE lesson which illustratesthe value of the programme to youngpeople’s health and well being.”

Research showed that 83 per cent ofpupils said they liked coming intoschool when Chance to Shine ses-sions were running. Simon Dyson,executive chairman of Chance toShine added: “We’ve always recog-nised the power of competitive cricketto help young people acquire skills,values and attitudes. The evaluationappears to validate this convictionand is tremendously encouraging.”

A JERSEY special school is runningafter-school sports clubs to give itspupils the opportunity to try newactivities.

Each month local coaches are invit-ed to teach 16 of Mont a L'AbbeSpecial School secondary school agepupils their chosen sport for threeweeks, varying from cricket, climbing,dance and karate to short tennis,judo and netball.

The programme is organised by theschool’s head of PE Andy Jordi, withmany of the coaches people he has

known since school.“All the coaches give up their time

for no payment and it is usually a lotof fun,” he said. “These are sportswhich a lot of our pupils wouldn’t beable to access normally and are avail-able for all. If a pupil is in a wheel-chair we hoist them out and let themhave a go as well – they love it.

“Judo ground work is very popularbecause they can get on the mats andhave a good wrestle. As well as beingenjoyable the pupils are also getting abit of fitness.”

Youngsters learn a hold during a judo lesson

New opportunities for after-school club goers

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By Louise Cordell

A CORNWALL capoeira instructorhas taken the Brazilian game whichblends martial arts and dance andre-invented it for local children.

Instructor Craig Blackburn hascreated JingaFit classes, which com-bine the non-contact self-defencemoves with music and dance.

He said: “I started out teachingcapoeira classes in leisure centresand then moved into schools, but Ihad to change what I was offering tomake it more suitable for kids.

“Pure martial arts are quite repeti-tive which can be boring for chil-dren who will then quickly loseinterest.

“So I adapted and started usinghip hop music, teaching them themovements as dance moves, almost

without them knowing it, and takingthem through the patterns as part ofa choreographed routine.”

The JingaFit class consists of twohalves, firstly a choreographeddance routine using simple capoeiramoves to music and then learningto use the movements in partner sit-uations.

Within six weeks the pupils havelearned enough to play the gameindependently, making up the rou-tines as they go along and reactinginstinctively.

Craig added: “So far I have beeninto half of the schools in Cornwalland have had an amazing reactionin all of them. Teachers love itbecause it engages the kids, espe-cially those with behavioural orlearning difficulties.

“And for the pupils it’s a fun game

that gives them the chance to throwthemselves about, encourages thesocial aspect of sport and lets themwork together rather than againsteach other. Boys love the martialarts side of it and girls love thedance and gymnastic elements.

“There is also an infinite amountof moves to learn so it is alwaysexciting and challenging.”

Currently the main problem Craigis facing is that many schools arekeen to provide more sessions forthe pupils, but don’t have theresources available.

To overcome this he is setting up acommunity interest company whichwill be able to apply for funding tosubsidise the school clubs, makingthe classes cheaper and more acces-sible.

He said: “The schools are usually

only able to book a full school tastersession, or a six week short course.

“This means that the only way forthe kids to continue with the sportis through after school clubs, butmany have financial or transportissues that make this difficult forthem.

“If I can get more funding thenthis should change and many morekids will get the chance to becomeinvolved.”

As another way of getting JingaFitinto schools, Craig has also pro-duced a DVD learning resource forthe Callington School SportsPartnership.

PE teachers will be able to use theDVD in their classes to teach thecapoeira moves and use the exercis-es as a springboard to get the kidsplaying the game.

Craig’s students Gene Abdi (left) and Alex Ferraroperforming at Beach Break Live in JuneCraig Blackburn with students from Mevagissey Primary School in Cornwall

Brazilian game re-invented

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ACCORDING to Mark,Greenwich Leisure Ltd is the’blueprint’ that other leisuretrusts follow.

And after 15 years of helpingchildren and teenagers succeedin sport, the company has itssights set on reaping the bene-fits of the 2012 Olympics.

Mark said: “When we startedwe opened seven leisure cen-tres in Greenwich, but now weoperate 65 in 12 differentLondon boroughs.

“We are hoping that the focusthe games will put on sport andyouth investment will providean opportunity to really make amark for communities andyouth fitness.”

Last year, GLL set up a chari-table trust called the GLL SportFoundation, providing fundingfor talented young athletes.

A direct initiative to providefinancial support to young peo-ple in London who are recog-nised as being potentially very

good at their sport, it aims tohelp those that have barriers –for example those who may bestruggling because of an injury.

GLL is working with some oftheir suppliers to support thefoundation, which is currentlyhelping 700 young athletes.

Mark said: “It’s early days toget people to get their chequebooks out but we areconfident that the success ofthe Olympic will further inspireLondoners.”

Because GLL run all the poolsin the boroughs, part of theirobjective is that every child inevery school in every boroughshould be able to swim.

So as well as providing freesessions to underprivilegedyoungsters through a credit sys-tem, the Trust has capped thecost of swimming at £1 a ses-sion across all boroughs.

Mark said: “We never againwant to hear the argument thatchildren cannot afford to go

swimming.”

And as well as the pool initia-tives, for the last five years all ofGLL’s leisure centres have run‘after school gyms’ in their fit-ness suites, giving pupils priori-ty over the equipment.

Mark said that as well as theprogress they have made withyouth sport and fitness, GLL’sbiggest achievement is chang-ing the market for leisureproviders.

He added: “When we startedout the only options availablefor councils were to run theirleisure offerings in-house, orthrough private companies –but now they have a choice.

“We are showing there is athird way, and feel we have set ablueprint for other leisuretrusts.

“And ultimately we want towork with those other trusts incollaboration rather than com-petition.”

As Greenwich Leisure Ltd celebrates its 15th anniversary, Mary Ferguson caught up with founder MarkStresnan to find out how they are encouraging health and fitness amongst young people in the capital.

Capital plan for keeping young healthy

Mark Stresnan

Bursary supports talented youngsters

School children from nine primary schools in South Leeds have competed in a rugbyleague competition, held to co-incide with the senior world cup.300 pupils took part in the Hunslet Hawks world cup festival, held at the John CharlesCentre for Sport, organised in partnership with Leeds Council Sports Development.The programme, which began in September, saw all schools involved allocated a countrytaking part in the senior world cup in Australia.All teams played each other in seven minute matches with the top four teams competingfor a chance to play in the final. Ireland (Morley Newlands) and Fiji (East Ardsley) reachedthe final with Ireland emerging as champions.

A SPORTS bursary scheme inWarwickshire has provided financialsupport to talented young sportspeople in the area.

The County Athletes Programme(CAP) aims to support Warwickshireathletes to compete at the London2012 Olympic Games and at othermajor events on the sporting calen-dar.

In 2008 over 80 applications were

received and as a result, 14 buddingyoung stars, who compete in a varietyof sports, from badminton to wheel-chair basketball, have been selectedto receive funding.

Funded by Warwickshire CountyCouncil the 14 successful applicantswill each receive a grant from thethree-tiered funding package to aidtheir development over the next year.

Junior football academy tokick off again next summerA JUNIOR football academy is tocontinue next summer as part of apartnership with Chelsea FootballClub.

The project – with Forte Villageacademy – saw more than 500 takepart this summer and it will contin-ue next year.

Ron Gourlay, chief operating officerat Chelsea said: “Our football in thecommunity scheme and our coaches

are regarded in the highest esteemaround the world so I am sure theywill inspire the children to play andwatch football for many years tocome.”

The football academy is open toboys and girls aged four to 13 whowill be trained by Chelsea coachesand there will be a mini tournamentat the end of each week.

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By Lyndsey Smith

A DANCE mat league that allowsschools to compete against eachother online is encouraging morekids to get fit, according to onepartnership development manager.

The competition – for pupils inyears five to 11 – lets each yeargroup compete at five different lev-els ranging from novice to expert.

Each week pupils perform a setdance track and their scores arerecorded online. Points are calcu-lated throughout the month, withthe top scoring student, team andschool being revealed.

Partnership development manag-er Dave Bullock, at Tone SchoolSports Partnership, said the compe-

tition concept encourages morekids to take part.

He added: “It is a great way forkeeping kids who are not tradition-ally into sport to be more physicallyactive.

“The great thing is it can be anindividual or team event and it alsointroduces the competitive ele-ment, as well as being a fun way foryoung people to engage.

“It is attractive to many schoolsbecause of this and also because ittakes away any transportationproblems that can sometimes befaced when trying to fufill competi-tive fixtures.”

Paul Shinners, commercial salesdirector at Pulse Fitness – whichhas exclusive rights to distribute

the new system I Dance dancemats for three years – said: “It is agreat way for kids to competeagainst each other in an activitythat is not only fun but keeps themfit and healthy.

“Numerous school sports partner-ships now have some sort of inter-active activity equipment proving itis beneficial for kids of all ages andabilities.”

Paul believes technologicaladvancements to dance mat soft-ware could take interactive gamingin schools to a whole new level.

He said the new I Dance can beused by up to 32 users at once andfeatures a split screen, allowingparticipants to compete on threedifferent ability levels.

Dance mat league steps up fitness bid

Teachers ‘shouldnot be expectedto keep kids fit’By Louise Cordell

PARENTS should not expect teachersto take responsibility for keepingtheir kids fit and healthy, according toa physical activity expert.

Anna Chalkley, project manager atthe British Heart Foundation’sNational Centre for Physical Activityand Health, points out that schoolsare under increased pressure to hittargets in every area and familiesneed to do their bit to keep kidsactive.

She said: “We are keen to promotethe recommended 60 minutes ofactivity a day, but while there hasbeen a significant investment intosport in schools, teachers are bom-barded with targets like this and can-not provide everything that is neededin school hours.

“Parents need to realise this, asthere is a tendency to think that thechild’s exercise needs are being takencare of at school and that they don’tneed to get involved.”

Anna works with the centre’s chil-dren and young people team, taking

health and fitness research, ‘de-jar-gonising’ it and turning it into practi-cal tips and ideas that can be used byanyone working with kids.

The aim is to equip children withthe skills to exercise and be active allthe time, while alone, with friendsand family and in schools.

The group also spends a lot of timeconsulting with teachers and youthworkers to make sure children aregetting the best possible benefits.

Anna added: “Progress is oftendown to the enthusiasm of individualteachers – at the end of the day nomatter now good the resources arethey need to be delivered in the rightway to be effective.

“We always try to offer trainingalongside the packs, which helps tofamiliarise the teachers with what isinvolved.

“This gives them more confidenceand increases the likelihood of theresources being used - after all if theteachers don’t understand them thenwe can’t expect the kids to.

“It needs to be a two way street toget the best results.”

Marine tasterfor pupilsYEAR nine and 10 pupils from fiveNewcastle schools had a taste of lifein the Marines when they were putthrough their paces at a training day.

The boys from West Gate, All Saints,Heaton Manor, Benfield andWalbottle schools competed forpoints against each other in a numberof tasks including scaling a 20 footclimbing wall, running while carryinga heavy mat, a 2000m row on theRiver Tyne, a series of one-minutetests in the gym and a problem solv-ing exercise.

The event was organised byNewcastle School Sport Partnership’scompetition manager Steve Beharall,and was aimed at youngsters who arenot involved in team sports and donot represent a team at any competi-tive sport.

Partnership development managerJoyce Matthews said further eventsare planned for next year.

She added: “The idea was to offeryoung people the chance to competein an activity which would challengeand inspire.

“It has been so successful that theyoung people that participated areasking when another event will beorganised, and those schools who didnot take part in this event are lookingforward to the challenge of competingin the next event.”

The England teamhas won the RockIt Ball youthworld cup afterplaying a fivematch series inHungary.England coachCraig Buttery said:“These youngstershave come so farand reached anamazing standard.The future cer-tainly looks brightas the playersmove up to thesenior squad.”

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By Lyndsey Smith

A SCHOOL in Warwickshire is hop-ing to team up with health expertsto offer fitness sessions for thecommunity.

Eileen Braham, from WarwickBoys Prep School, has met with thehealth development manager ofthe Primary Care Trust to discussworking in partnership on the newgovernment Families for Fitnessscheme.

She said: “We had been aiming torun health and fitness sessions forsome time, after becomingincreasingly aware of the children’s

obesity issues.“However we were unable to find

guidance on setting up such ascheme but this meeting has givenus renewed hope that by workingin partnership with the PCT wecan get the courses up and run-ning and available to local fami-lies.

“Warwick School has superbsports facilities and we are able tooffer our own pupils much morethan the government suggestedamount of PE time each week andtherefore have fit and active pupilswho are committed to physicalexercise and health.

“We would like to be able toshare this ethos amongst childrenand families who may not havehad such an opportunity availableto them. Some that need help can’taccess it due to social circum-stances but we aim to change allthat.”

Eileen also hopes to run a jointinitiative with the head of cateringat the school to offer people adviceabout diet and nutrition.

The school already runs a holidayaction programme, for four to 11year olds to take part in a hugerange of activities from archery tomask making and wall climbing.

Pupilsenjoyingwaterpolo

School in bid to team up with experts

New danceinitiativeinspired byTV showA TV talent show is the inspirationbehind a new dance initiative to belaunched in North East schools nextyear.

The Stockton SSP have extendedtheir fun key steps programme toinclude ‘Bollywood Steps’ aimed atkey stage two children across the bor-ough.

Many pupils have referred to Indianstreet dance group, Signature - whofeatured earlier this year on Britain’sGot Talent - when discussing Indiandance, Bollywood and street dance,and community dance coach,Lyndsey Davies, believes this individ-ual style of music and dance providesa great opportunity for cross curricu-lar links into cultural studies, history,art and religion.

She added: “After many requestsfrom head teachers, pupils and pri-mary PE staff we decided it would bea great way to engage youngsters, par-ticularly those of multi-cultural origininto music and dance performance,and we hope that primary schools willtake advantage of the sessions onoffer.”

Lyndsey will begin delivering theprogramme from February, alongsidewake up shake up, street dance, streetcheer, cheerleading and combatsteps.

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RESULTS of a study into kids’ fit-ness levels at school have shownthat targets have been smashedand now 90 per cent take part in atleast two hours of high quality PEand school sport a week.

The Youth Sport Trust surveyed21,000 schools across the UK tofind participation has leapt from62 per cent in 2003/04.

YST chief executive SteveGrainger said: “These results showhow much progress is being madein PE and school sport.

“It has been great to see the sys-tematic change over the years interms of improvement but we arenot so naive as to think this isenough.”

Now, the YST is aiming to reachnew government targets of fivehours’ high quality PE and sport aweek – though Steve admits somechildren may be already achievingthat target.

Steve added the findings onlyillustrate exercise done in curricu-lum time – it does not include anyexercise students may be doing outof school. Now, he is behind a YSTdrive to forge stronger linksbetween schools and sports clubs.

He said: “If there is no outsideopportunity we get the familiar

problem of the post 16 drop offbecause there is no where for thekids to to go.

“We need to get communityproviders and schools linking upmore because if the two work inisolation it will never work.

“Schools are wanting to do morebut not knowing where to accessfacilities, and clubs are findingthey have membership gaps andsaying the schools aren’t doingenough – it’s the chicken and the

egg.”

Liberal Democrat MP Don Fosterbelieves any results should be clar-ified before attempts are made toincrease the offer.

He added: “This survey is all welland good but do we really knowthe amount of physical activitykids are doing? Do these two hoursincorporate changing time or is ittwo hours sustained exercise?

“There has been hundreds of mil-lions of pounds spent on this for aquite frankly modest increase andwill this government proposal ofthe five hour offer actually do any-thing to reduce drop off when kidsleave school?

“The progress that has beenmade is very welcome but beforewe start self-congratulating wehave to realise it is nowhere nearenough.”

However, Don agreed thatschools should team up with clubsmore often and he called for SportEngland to clarify its position onfunding arrangements to helpmove things forward.

� What do you think? Send yourcomments to Lyndsey Smith, 47Church Street, Barnsley, SouthYorkshire, S70 2AS or email her atls@whpl.net.

Initiatives to engage more young people in sport and physical activity are payingoff according to a recent school sports survey. Lyndsey Smith reports.

90% taking part inat least two hoursof sport – survey

GOVERNMENT minister Ed Ballssays schools and clubs still have toraise their game – despite 250,000more young people playing sportcompared to last year.

He says more has to be done tomeet the government’s new targetsof doing five hours PE a week.

He added: “Ignore the half-pintfull critics who carp nothing haschanged. School sport was anational embarrassment a decadeago.

“Sport had all but withered anddied in many schools, thousands of

playing fields had been sold off,there was negligible investmentand an ingrained anti-competitiveculture.

“School and youth sport has nownever been as well funded. There isa permanent infrastructure andsupport in place and more childrendoing PE and sport than everbefore.

“We now need to raise our gameto persuade more children to makethe right choices and exercise out-side school so all children can doat least five hours a week.”

Mr Balls added it was crucial toinclude parents in the plans andput the responsibility back on tofamilies to deliver sport.

He said: “The bottom line is thatencouraging and supporting theirchildren to exercise should be partand parcel of day to day life forfamilies.

“We need schools and clubs to allwork to engage more parents andevery parent has to take responsi-bility for their children doing exer-cise and sport outside schools.”

Steve Grainger

Schools and clubs must raise their game

Students exchange Bolsover for BeijingSTUDENTS in Derbyshire swappedBolsover for Beijing in a sportingexchange trip last month.

Eight pupils from Stubbin WoodSpecial School took part in sportsand cultural activities, spending fourdays in Beijing and four in Shanghai.

The four boys and four girls, aged14 to 16, visited Yang Fan special

school in Shanghai – which has closelinks with Stubbin Wood – after theyreceived a visit from a Chinese dele-gation travelling from the Yang Pudistrict earlier this year.

Carolyn Briggs, international co-ordinator at Stubbin Wood, said:“This was a fantastic opportunity forour students. They experienced a

completely different culture whichwill help to broaden their horizonsand widen their experiences.”

One of the aims of the trip was toshare ideas and practice, and theBritish visitors took several pieces ofsports equipment with them. StubbinWood staff also taught some PE les-sons.

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LONGFORD Community School inHounslow was selected from morethan 1,700 secondary school entrantsas winner of the Fitter SchoolsChallenge.

Students from each school wentthrough a series of tests for coordina-tion, strength, speed, power andLongford recorded the highest levelof overall fitness to win more than£40,000 of fitness equipment fromLife Fitness.

Chris McNab, director of sport atLongford, said the school had alreadybeen given healthy school statusfrom the government under theHealthy School’s Programme.

He added: “We decided to integratethis challenge into the healthyschools agenda which includes exer-cise, diet and lifestyle to encouragethe students to increase their physi-cal activity.

“The competition helped give thestudents a focus for their exerciseand served to improve the team ethicacross the entire student body.

“The new equipment will be givenpride of place in our new fitness suitethat opens later this year and the stu-dents are excited and extremelyproud of what they have achieved asa group through sport.”

Longford pushed the competition

in two ways – students were invitedto compete individually and werealso teamed into ‘houses’ where eachperson could earn points for their team.

Chris added: “It’s a good way of get-ting students involved particularlythe disaffected ones.

“With the house system they knowthat no matter what their points totalis they are contributing in some way,they are doing something to maketheir house successful, and we findthat this structure goes a long way togetting more students involved.”

Chris is now making plans forLongford to be involved in the gov-ernment’s new Fitter Familiesscheme which is to encourage fitnessat home and at school.

He added: “This initiative made thekids realize the benefits of exerciseand what part it can play in keepingthem fit and healthy. We made surethat all results were displayed so thekids could really feel a sense ofachievement.

“We are already trying to incorpo-rate the family element at school –we recently sent out letters to parentsregarding packed lunches. A lot ofkids were bringing chocolate basedlunches into school and we are tryingto alleviate that and improve stan-

dards.The problem is that although there

is all this talk of PE in schools interms of the two hour offer or fivehour offer you still tend to find that a

lot of exam based subjects are con-tinually trying to tie up the student’stime, and the biggest thing we asteachers can do is ensure that doesn’thappen.”

A school in Middlesex beat off stiff competition to be crowned the UK’s fittest school in 2008. Lyndsey Smith findsout how they did it.

The fittest school in 2008

Chris McNab receives award from Ian Wright at the Fit For Sport awards ceremony.

INSPIRING dreams and creatingopportunities was the theme of theYouth Sports Trust special schools’ PEand sport conference.

The third national conference forthose delivering PE and sport oppor-tunities to young disabled people andspecial educational needs pupils,took place in December and featuredappearances from three Paralympicathletes – Sam Hynd, swimming,Shelly Woods, athletics, and AndyBlake, wheelchair basketball.

Steve Grainger, chief executive ofthe YST said: “This has been an amaz-ing year and the greatest yet in ourjourney to transform PE and schoolsport.

“The achievements of ourOlympians and Paralympians inBeijing were an inspiration to mil-lions of young people and the thirdUK School Games, were a great show-case for the sporting talent that is

now coming through our school sys-tem.

“As the host nation for 2012, andwith a desire to build the best PE andschool sport system in the world bythen, we have an unprecedentedopportunity to ensure young disabledpeople are a leading part of the grow-ing sporting landscape.”

The conference considered the vari-ous roles that special schools andwider partners play, from deliveringhigh quality PE and sport, to support-ing and influencing others to fullyinclude all young disabled people.

It also provided opportunities forthe extended network of county dis-ability officers and other educationand sports agencies to consider how,through working with special schools,clearer pathways can be created fromschool to community sport to createmeaningful and sustainable opportu-nities.

Inspiring dreams ...Steve Grainger, chief executive of the YST

12 15/12/08 14:10 Page 1

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COLLEGE students in Nottinghamare being encouraged to sign up forgym membership with the offer ofpayment holidays.

The New Expressions Health andFitness Centre allows students to takemembership breaks of four, eight ortwelve months to fit around theirstudying timetable.

Marcos Szysler, club fitness manag-er, said: “We had found that the stu-dents were very hit and miss andtended to frequently cancel and thenrestart their membership.

“This was awkward for them andmeant a laborious paper trail for us,so we started offering them theoption of payment breaks, allowingthem to freeze their membershipsjust by calling the club and letting usknow the dates in question.”

The gym, which is right next door toSouth Nottinghamshire College, has ahigh percentage of student members,about 33 per cent, which is now set toincrease as the club expands to 1000members over the next year.

The club does not charge anyadministration fee for the paymentholiday and Marcos believes the sys-

tem has made a huge difference tostudent retention.

He added: “We have seen member-ship uptake explode over the lastmonth after working with the collegeduring fresher’s week, I think know-ing that the flexibility is there if theyneed it has a big impact on whetherthey sign up or not.

“It is important to remember thatfunds are tight for students, so theyare going to be reluctant to pay forsomething they are not likely to use.

“If they are faced with the problemof cancelling and then re-starting uptheir membership they are less likelyto join up at all. However, if theyknow it is simple and they can justwalk back in when they are ready,they are much keener.”

Marcos also believes that the club’swork with the college has helped toencourage student members.

New Expressions has put on privateclasses for the college and providedthe students with instructors forsports lessons when needed.

He said: “Working closely with thecollege definitely encourages the stu-dents to use us out of hours as they

are familiar with the people and facil-ities and, having seen what is onoffer, are eager to take part.”

The New Expressions Health and Fitness Centre

Gym payment breaksbeing offered toNottingham students

£10m to improve facilities across countryTHE government is to spend £10mimproving facilities at 42 sports col-leges across the country.

Children’s minister Kevin Brennansaid the cash will be spent ondeveloping sports pitches, withflood lights, artificial turf and betterdrainage being installed.

He said: “Competitive sport isback in schools, thanks to the mas-

sive investment in facilities andcoaches over the last decade andour initiative to stop the masssell-off of thousands of playingfields.

“The Olympics excited childrenabout sport in a way we haven’tseen for a generation and we’ve gota once in a lifetime opportunity toget children reaching their

potential. “It’s not good enough that young

people still find their local schoolpitches unlit or too waterlogged touse in winter, and this investmentwill make a real difference where itcounts.”

It is expected that more cash willbe allocated for the scheme overthe next two years.

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SWEAT in the City is the result of apartnership between the FIA and theWomen’s Sport and FitnessFoundation.

It involves giving 3,000 women agedbetween 16 and 24, who live inLondon and do little or no exercisefree and mentored gym membershipfor 12 weeks.

The main aims of the programmeare to encourage an age group whichis traditionally quite inactive to bemore active while also finding out thereasons why they are reluctant toparticipate.

At the beginning and end of theprogramme, participants will fill inquestionnaires and give feedbackwhich can then be used for futureWSFF campaigns to get women moreactive and by gyms to find out whatfemale members like and want fromtheir workouts. The data can also beused to discover any changes in their

attitudes about physical activity overthe course of the 12 weeks.

Those on the programme will bene-fit from a dedicated website wherethey can interact with other membersplus the services of an online mentor,Brittany Robbins, who will be there toanswer queries and help to keep thewomen motivated.

Brittany said: “One of the main aimsof the programme is to get inactivewomen active. 81 per cent of womendo not do enough exercise andwomen aged between 16 and 24 arehalf as active as men of the same agegroup.

“Some young women stop exercis-ing and never come back to it – wehave been going straight to theschools, universities and communitygroups to get them involved.”

100 London gyms have signed up tothe scheme allowing the women touse their facilities free of charge –

enabling them to help out the localcommunity while potentially gainingnew members.

WSFF project manager ChrisLillistone said there were manythings which the organisation want-ed to achieve from the programmeboth for the women themselves andfor research purposes.

She added: “We hope the womenwho sign up will have a fantasticexperience and feel part of a commu-nity by using the online website. Wewant them to be able to build up theconfidence and skills to stay active.

“We also want to learn from themand get feedback on issues such aswhy they would give up exercise sowe can use this information forfuture campaigns.”

It is hoped that a successful pilotcould lead to the programme beingrolled out nationwide. Brittany Robbins

A pilot scheme has been launched in London to get 3,000 inactive young women into exercise. But what do thefounders hope to achieve with the programme and how easy is it to change young women’s perceptions ofexercise? Christina Eccles found out ...

Sweat in the City pilot aimsto get young women active

A Newcastle school has formed its first rugby league team underthe watchful eye of an international player. Heaton Manor’syear nine boys have entered the Carnegie champion schoolscompetition and are being coached by sixth form student Crawford Matthews, who has just returned from Praguewhere he represented Scotland in the Euro nations championships. Crawford who also plays for GatesheadThunder’s academy team, said he is confident the team will dowell in the competition.He added: “There are quite a few lads in the school who alreadyplay for Wallsend Eagles and Killingworth Rockets, so it seemedlike a logical move to set up a school team.”

Paralympic swimmer opens festivalBy Crispin Andrews

PARALYMPIC swimmer GilesLong recently opened a festival in Buckinghamshire foryoungsters with physical disabilities and visual impairments.

Giles, a double gold medallistwho has limited use of his rightshoulder, said: “Festivals like

this are crucial if more young-sters are to be encouraged totake part in physical activity and reach their poten-tial.”

Over 70 children from 12 dif-ferent schools took part in arange of activities from cricket,tennis and athletics, to disabili-ty sports like wheelchair bas-

ketball, polybat, boccia andtable cricket.

Giles is involved in theSporting Champions scheme –a Sport England initiative,which brings world-class ath-letes face-to-face with youngpeople to inspire and motivatethem to participate in sport.

Interactive coaching kit Cyber Coach has become thefirst leisure product to be shortlisted for a BETTAward.The award – which promotes technological productsin the education sector – is judged on criteria like design, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility.Ron Jones, chief executive of Quick Holdings plc,owner of the Cyber Coach product said: “This is tes-

tament to all the hard work that the team at Cyber Coach has put in to deliver a product that is suitable for use in a wide variety of settings.“We already have over 100 schools throughout theUK with Cyber Coach systems and hope that thisnomination will mean that the product goes fromstrength to strength.”

14 12/12/08 15:54 Page 1

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Expert warnsno ‘one sizefits all’ answerBy Lyndsey Smith

A KIDS’ fitness expert has warnedthere is no ‘one size fits all’ solutionto keep girls fit – and each areashould offer something different.

Kerry McDonald, business develop-ment manager for StreetGames, tolda conference that there is no singlesolution when it comes to encourag-ing girls to work out.

He said: “There is no one size fits allsolution.

“Different girls want different activi-ties, but undoubtedly one of ourbiggest successes this year has beenthe development of our StreetCheerprogramme.

“This combines urban dance andcheerleading and it’s been very popu-lar with the girls.”

StreetGames launched in 2007 topromote sport in disadvantaged com-munities. So far, 30,000 young peoplehave taken part, with over 1,000sports qualifications awarded, and 70projects set up around the UK.

Kerry said the charity is facing sometough challenges, particularly when itcomes to meeting the demand incommunities for tighter links withsports clubs.

The organisation is now creating anetwork that will pair up communitygroups and sports clubs to run proj-ects together.

He added: “Setting up a sports proj-ect is one thing, getting local youngpeople to attend on a regular basis isquite another. We have been able todo just that.

“By working with local providersand listening to young people, wehave been able to establish 70 projectacross the country that regularlyattract those for whom sport has pre-viously been unavailable or simply anunattractive option.”

� What do you think? Tell LyndseySmith about your girls’ projects. Shecan be reached on ls@whpl.net orwrite to her at 47 Church Street,Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS.

A leisure centre has launched a £120,000 youth fitness initiative in a bid to get kids active.Loddon Valley Leisure Centre, managed by Leisure Connection, has launched The Pod whichincludes interactive fitness equipment. It also includes ZigZag’s second-generation Xer-Dance platforms, a leadership board and sportswalls.

Superchick in teen market bidTHE founder of a female only fit-ness company has revealed ambi-tious plans for expansion whichinclude educating young womenon the benefits of healthy eatingand exercise.

Cat Dugdale, co-founder ofLondon-based Superchick, set upthe company with business partnerand former personal training clientGeorgie Thompson to bring womenonly fitness into the 21st century.

Cat said: “It is key for us to getinto the teenage market because atthe moment girls do not have any-where to turn to which has a

healthy approach to women’s bod-ies.”

Signing up to an online pro-gramme is free and Cat now wantsto help teenagers to achieve theirgoals and a positive body image.

Cat added: “There is the celebrityapproach which seems to be allabout thinness which we are tryingto challenge with the lifestyle ele-ment of keeping fit and healthy.

“In school, girls do PE and some-times carry this over into universitybut then after that there is nothingavailable and turning that aroundcan be difficult.”

15 12/12/08 15:56 Page 1

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FIA projectextends toolder kidsBy Lyndsey Smith

A PROJECT which encourages tenand 11-year-olds to get fit has beenexpanded for older children.

The Fitness Industry Association’ssuccessful Adopt a School pro-gramme has been rebranded asActive at School and will link primaryand secondary schools with FIA regis-tered health clubs and gyms.

Fitness programmes will be offeredfor children between ten and 15-years-old within each school term,either before, during or after school,with the gym instructor delivering aminimum six week period of activi-ties including advice on leading ahealthy lifestyle.

Children will also be offered theopportunity to sustain activity levelsby linking into programmes that theclubs are running, and Alex Smith,programmes co-ordinator said:“There are many benefits for schoolsthat sign up to the scheme.

“It provides them with an opportu-nity to help kids reach the five hoursof PE the government are trying toachieve, and it is also about providing

them with the opportunity to exerciseoutside of school hours.

“Plus it is a great alternative for kidswho aren’t quite so bothered abouttraditional sports like football andnetball, providing them with anopportunity to keep fit and healthy.”

The programme aims to help chil-dren develop a positive attitudetowards physical activity and buildgood exercise habits during the earlyyears of life, and it can also helpschools meet partnership aims andobjectives and give them access tofacilities and expert advice.

The government funded project isdesigned so that children of all abili-ties can take part and there are 27link ups running so far this term.

Alex hopes this will increase as theschool year progresses. He said: “Agood few hundred link ups weremade with the Adopt A School proj-ect and I can’t see why this will be anydifferent. We are doing everything toprovide as much support as possibleincluding providing clubs with a sup-port pack to show them how to runthe programme including a DVD ofsample activities.”

HOLY Cross Year Seven girls’ rugbyleague team has won the DailyTelegraph’s School Sports MattersSchool Team of the Year award.

The national award, which was opento all sports teams from schoolsacross the country, went to theChorley school partly due to the suc-cessful link with local club ChorleyPanthers.

Holy Cross head coach AnthonyRyder said: “This award rounds off anamazing year for the team.

“We were surprised to win but veryproud of what we’ve achieved.

“This is the first year the girls haveplayed rugby league and the link withthe club has really helped to developthem.”

Anthony Ryder with Holy Cross Girls Y7 captain Sophie Green and Sally Gunnell

Chorley school teamtakes national award

German concept importedA GERMAN sports concept is beingintroduced at some UK schools tohelp encourage kids’ fitness.

Speedminton – the brainchild oftwo German badminton enthusi-asts – is a hybrid racquet sportcombining features of badminton,tennis and squash.

Neil McMillan, at ManchesterCollege, said: “From an educationalperspective it is great for usbecause it has a low skill threshold.Other racquet sports like tennis,badminton or squash have a highskill threshold and students can geteasily frustrated and then get boredand lose interest.

“We are always trying to intro-duce new sports to maintain vari-ety. It is a really active sport, and itis as much physical exercise as vol-leyball, tennis in my opinion, but itgives students the opportunity totry something different away fromthe traditional sports.”

The college also hold speed-minton sessions out of lesson times

with staff using it in enrichmentactivities.

Founder Ralf Ganza said: “Sportscoaches and PE teachers can coachtheir students and players easily,with no hassles and pupils willachieve success quickly during thefirst stages of learning how to play.

“In our experience, the sport isbest suited for students aged nineand up and we are now organising-interschool competitions to help toestablish the basis for nationalschool leagues.”

Neil McMillan

New innings for resource packs THE England and Wales CricketBoard is expanding its Howzat! edu-cational resource to improve cricketcoaching in schools.

The updated packs will be rolled outto 1,000 cricket coaches and 1,000school teachers a year to tie in withthe launch of the new national cur-riculum.

Howzat! has been based around apre-installed software programme

specially designed for teachers andhas been accredited by theAssociation of Physical Education.

More than 1,300 copies of theresource have been circulated toqualified cricket coaches workingwithin the Cricket Foundation’s‘Chance to Shine’ programme, andwill offer teachers and coaches acombination of 670,000 differentgames and practices to choose from.

16 12/12/08 15:57 Page 1

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By Dominic Musgrave

SPORT can teach youngsters impor-tant lessons in life according to for-mer Commonwealth 800m championDiane Modahl.

The four time Olympic athlete hasbecome an ambassador ofStreetGames, a sports developmentcharity launched in 2007 whichdevelops sporting opportunities foryoung people living in some of theUK’s most disadvantaged areas.

Diane, who grew up on the outskirtsof Manchester in Longsight, sayssport is crucial in the development ofchildren.

“It can be the catalyst to so manythings,” she added. “It is not onlyabout the joy of victory or the despairof defeat but is about education,team work and socialising.

“I am a firm believer in theGovernment’s aim of getting schoolchildren to do at least five hours ofsport each week. But there are somany young people out there who,because of where they live or theirsocial circumstances, don’t have anyaccess to sport as part of their day-to-day lives. That shouldn’t be the case.”

Diane also believes that schools andlocal authorities should be doing allthey can to take advantage of theOlympic games in London in 2012.

“We cannot ignore the games beingheld here,” she added. “We need touse them to encourage the young-sters to take up a sport and aspire toemulate some of the people that wesaw recently winning all of thosemedals in Beijing.

“I was very lucky because a coachfrom a local athletics club came tomy school’s sports day, spotted meand asked me if I had ever thoughtabout joining a club. Without thatsupport I could easily have missedout on the opportunity to get intosport.”

Diane’s post with StreetGamesinvolves her using her sporting influ-ence, experience and knowledge toencourage other sporting heroes tosupport the charity.

So far more than 17,000 childrenhave taken part in one of their train-ing sessions, which include diverseactivities such as dance and cheer-leading as well as more mainstreamsports.

The charity also offers a volunteer-ing project.

Well known names including boxersAmir Khan and Ricky Hatton and for-mer footballer John Fashanu andcricketer Imran Khan have showntheir support.

Diane Modahl at one of the StreetGamesevents

Sport teachesimportantlessons – Diane

Former Olympian Colin Jackson sup-ported youngsters in the North East asthey gave their first public perform-ance of Sport Dance.Benfield School’s 20 students and sixteachers from the Newcastle SchoolSports Partnership lined up with theathlete for the performance thatlaunched the Great North Run.It is the first partnership to pilot theSport Dance programme.

Over one hundred people from theregion took part in routines designedto use as many large muscle groups inthe body to create a progressive work-out.Inspiration came from actions such asthe basketball bounce and lay up shot,the tennis backhand, forehand andserve, plus football kicks and goaliemoves.

By Lyndsey Smith

NUTRITION should be a compulsoryschool subject alongside PE, accord-ing to one UK company.

Sport nutrition company mypro-tein.co.uk has written to the govern-ment saying its plans to send lettersto parents when their child is over-weight will have no effect, unlessnutrition becomes part of the nation-al curriculum.

Oliver Cookson, managing director,said: “The government’s latest offer-ing doesn’t have the impact a situa-

tion such as the one we find our-selves in requires.

“We need to take control of our ownand our children’s lives and stopshifting blame.

“It is my belief nutrition should be acompulsory subject, where childrenare taught how to enjoy a healthy,well balanced diet, informed how apoor diet can lead to ill health, andeducated as to the dangers of eatingdisorders such as anorexia, bulimiaand over-eating.

“A few hours’ physical exercise isjust not enough.”

Nutrition should be compulsoryschool subject – company

Call for sports volunteersYOUNG people are being encouragedto become sports volunteers under aproject funded by Sport England.

The runningsports project hasasked teachers to mention it to sixthformers who want to become volun-teers.

Phil Collier, director of run-ningsports, said: “As well as providingnew-found knowledge and skills, run-

ningsports ticks a lot of boxes forteachers too.

“The programme sits comfortablywith Step into Sport and it can helpto increase and improve school-clublinks as well as provide teachers withgroups of students who have theskills needed to assist in the runningof in-school sports activities.”

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By Lyndsey Smith

A SCHOOL in Kent held a physicalactivity day to get more girls takingpart in PE – and invited their familiesand friends.

Herne Bay High head of PE PriscillaMonahan organised the Girls GetGoing event to try to entice more girlsto participate.

She said: “The idea was to get moregirls involved in sport. Physical activi-ty in boys is higher than in girls andpart of my remit for the year was toget more girls active.

“We thought that by having a familymember or friend with them, the par-ticipants would have a positive learn-ing environment in which they feltmore confident.

“We also encouraged more mums toplay and get physically active withtheir daughters at home.”

The school offered sessions incheerleading, hip hop dance, ball-room dance, aerobics, circuit train-ing, step aerobics, kick-boxing, self-defence, netball, tennis, fencing, bad-minton, climbing, trampolining,hockey, spinning and boxing.

Priscilla added: “If they enjoyed anactivity we provided them withdetails and information on how to

attend follow up sessions or clubs.“It was a fantastic opportunity for

local clubs and sport centres to buildlinks with the school and create path-ways for girls into clubs and regularactivity.”

A nutritionist was also on hand togive advice about healthy eating,along with MEND and British HeartFoundation representatives.

155 females took part with 93 percent of students and 69 per cent ofadults hoping to take up at least oneactivity in the future.

Girls get going at Herne Bay High

Kent schoolholds physicalactivity day

Youngsters meet Fred Turok, founder and chairman of TAG at the launch

By Dominic Musgrave

A NEW training initiative aimed atpreparing 18-24 year olds for a careerin the fitness industry has beenlaunched.

Transforming a Generation, thebrainchild of Fitness IndustryAssocation chair Fred Turok, hasbeen designed for people who are notin employment, education or trainingand who have limited professional orcareer opportunities. The free six-month programme combines busi-ness skills, academic work, practicaltraining and two work placements,one in the UK and one abroad.

Fred said: “There are many youngpeople, who for any number of rea-

sons, are alienated from our educa-tion process at school and are there-fore condemned to living in the shad-ows of society. Their only careerprospects are either securing a seriesof badly paid, unrewarding jobs, orseek an alternative ‘career’ on thewrong side of the law.”

Each student will be provided with apersonal mentor as well as a two-yearpersonal development plan designedto help their transition into the work-place. Everyone who graduates willleave with a level two fitness instruc-tor qualification and will be on theRegister of Exercise Professionals.

Fred aims to qualify 6,000 youngpeople as fitness instructors over thenext five years.

New training initiative helpswith fitness industry career

£50m windfall for indoorfootball pitch projectBy Lyndsey Smith

A PROJECT that aims to install indoorfootball pitches at more than 200schools has landed a £50m windfall.

Five-a-side provider Goals SoccerCentres was floated as a PLC in 2004on the alternative investment marketand its finance agreement with thebank allows for the cash to help growthe business.

Ric Leask, corporate sales manager,says his biggest problem so far hasbeen in marketing the scheme – astoo many schools are suspicious thatthere is a hidden catch.

He said: “No one believes they canget something for nothing. But part ofthe funding is £50m that will be allo-cated for school projects and we

made that declaration to the stockmarket.

“We feel there is room for at leastanother 200 centres in the UK marketand why shouldn’t they be on schoolgrounds?”

The project could see schools get a£2.1m purpose built sports facility ontheir grounds, which they could usebetween nine and five. The rest of thetime it is used by Goals SoccerCentres as a commercial venture.

Ric added: “Although we as a com-pany are predominantly football ori-entated the school has the option touse it for whatever is feasible such astouch rugby or quick cricket.

“It gives them an indoor facility foruse in winter or bad weather.”

Experts meet for conferenceBy Crispin Andrews

PE experts from Buckinghamshiremet for the annual Primary PEConference last month.

Wendy Taylor, the Youth SportTrust’s high quality PE developmentmanager for the area, opened theconference outlining governmentplans for five hours of PE and sporta week by 2012.

It was also discussed about bring-ing in fitness instructors, coaches or

players to help deliver lessons.Sally Mapley, partnership develop-

ment manager at the Wye ValleySports College in Bourne End said:“Training is crucial. Teachers eitherwant to get advice on how to teacha sport or activity they are unfamil-iar with, or find out about new ini-tiatives directly relevant to theirwork like the competition frame-work or how to identify gifted andtalented children.”

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MORE primary school pupils are get-ting the chance to take up tennisthanks to a course designed to helpteachers pass on the right skills.

The Tennis Skills to Music schemehas been developed to help promotekids’ fitness and raise standards with-in the primary PE curriculum.

Teachers are shown a range of ideasand exercises that they can take backinto the classroom and use to get kidsexcited about the sport.

Course designer and trainer JillFollett said: “What began as ademonstration session with a class ofpupils ended up creating a lot ofinterest amongst teachers in my ownschool and others.

“They began to ask for supportmaterials and, rather than do thingsby halves, I decided to spend a yeardeveloping and testing ideas on over4,000 pupils in 40 primary schools.”

The scheme is now entering its thirdyear and is not only being used inprimary schools, but has spread intosecondary PE classes at KS 3 and 4levels.

It has also received accreditationthrough afPE and has proved particu-larly popular and effective for pupilswith a range of special needs.

Jill added: “While it is based on ten-nis skills the ideas are very genericand are easily transferrable to otherareas of the curriculum.

“However, rackets and balls are veryversatile and, because they are anextension of the hand, are easier to

manipulate than for example a hock-ey stick or a football for many chil-dren and the exercises can also easilybe broken down, allowing each childto develop at their own pace.”

Teachers and coaches are shownhow to take kids through a warm up,create skills circuits which developagility balance and coordination anda range of exercises and drills, withand without rackets.

School sports coordinator, JaneHopkinson, who has attended thecourse said: “I think games like tenniscan be neglected in primary schoolsbecause it is easy to think it can’t bedone without courts.

“A lot of new teachers have less thanfour hours’ PE training and will defi-nitely not have covered something asspecific as tennis.”

Course serves tennistuition to more pupils

The Tennis Skills to Music scheme has beendeveloped to help promote kids’ fitness

ST Francis Xavier Catholic PrimarySchool in Oldbury is located in adeprived area of Birmingham,catering for around 250 childrenbetween three and 11.

Ten years ago, it was in specialmeasures and was experiencingsome major challenges with stu-dent behaviour.

But, after joining the NationalHealthy Schools Programme, StFrancis developed a healthy ethosby offering a range of physicalactivities to drive up behaviouraland educational standards.

Headteacher Mary Simmons saidit was hoped that better fitness lev-els would boost her students’ con-centration, behaviour, academicattainment and create a more posi-tive atmosphere.

Now, ballroom dancing is offeredto the year four students deliveredby professional competitivedancers who visit every week.Older children are offered jive andsalsa.

Mary said: “The ballroom classesgrew out of a desire to channel thechildren’s energy and give them anexperience they might not other-wise have. We started off by run-

ning aerobics classes and thisgradually evolved into less tradi-tional activities, the prime examplebeing ballroom dancing. Not onlyis the dancing something theyenjoy, but they’re developing skillslike confidence and teamwork,which they can take on into adultlife.

“Everyone has the chance to joinin, rather than being overly com-petitive, although of course, a lot ofthe students have seen StrictlyCome Dancing on TV and want toemulate what top sportsmen andwomen are doing on screen.

“We’re constantly trying to dosomething different and probablythe most unusual example to datehas been Irish Bangra dancing. It’sgoing back a couple of years now,but the fusion of Irish and Indianperfectly illustrated the comingtogether of different cultures andreally encouraged the children tobe more adventurous.”

St Francis also offers footballpractice and West Brom and AstonVilla have both worked with theschool on training sessions, with agroup of around 30 childrenspending a day at Villa Park foot-

ball ground for a tour and practicesession led by a female coach.

Mary added: “Transforminglunchtimes was crucial. Until a fewyears ago the children were simplygetting bored and their behaviourwas slipping, and ensuring physi-cal activity is an integral part oftheir everyday school lives hasreally helped to address this. Webelieve that the children them-

selves have a key role in ‘owning’the healthy schools agenda, andare actively encouraged to repeathealthy behaviour patterns in theirfree time, as well as inside theclassroom.”� Has your school had similarsuccess? Tell us about it. ContactNicola Hyde on nl@whpl.net orwrite to her at 47 Church Street,Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS.

An inner-city primary school which was once in special measures is now regarded as one of the healthiestschools in its region. Future Fitness reporter Nicola Hyde looks at how they managed the turn around.

Strictly ballroom proves a winner

The programme keeps pupils on their toes

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THE NutriSkill Programme enablesexciting, creative healthy eating andphysical activity lessons to take placethroughout the school year. Theresource provides teachers witheverything required to get startedimmediately, without the need forprior knowledge or training.

It is structured and progressive yetcompletely flexible, enabling variedsessions of any duration to be incor-porated into the curriculum or addedas a dedicated lesson. It is also per-fect for Early Years, SEN andExtended Services provision and canbe used under license by fitnessinstructors, sports trainers and gyms.

Written in line with governmentguidelines and age based compe-tences, NutriSkill contributes to

Healthy Schools and Every ChildMatters Agendas to improve chil-dren’s health and help reduce theobesity crisis. Pilots demonstratedthe programme’s effectiveness andthe online forum ensures creativity isharnessed and shared.

Enquiries: 0845 388 0789 Email:info@nutriskill.co.uk

NutriSkill Programme improves children’s health

The Eat For Goalscookbook is the latestin a series of projectsaimed at getting kidshealthy. Patrick Gasser,senior manager ofsocial responsibility forUEFA, co-ordinated thetwo year project.Lyndsey Smith foundout more.

The launch at a British school by a Brussells footballer

FAMOUS footballers like StevenGerrard, Ruud Van Nistelrooy andThierry Henry have contributed toa new cookbook to encourage kidsto eat healthily.

UEFA, the European Commissionand the World Heart Federationhave launched the Eat for Goalsbook which showcases the foot-ballers’ favourite healthy dishes.The book gives nutritional valuesper portion, plus other healthyfood tips to children between fiveand eleven.

It follows last year’s TV campaign,Get Active, which urged the public

to get out of their chairs and makephysical activity a part of theirdaily lives.

But Patrick believes children arean area where education is mostneeded. He said: “The Get Activeinitiative came at a time when poordiets and low levels of physicalactivity accounted for six of theseven leading risk factors for illhealth in Europe.

“Included within that research isthe alarming fact that almost 22mchildren are overweight in the EUand that figure is growing annuallyby 400,000.

“We needed to choose a publichealth issue on which to focus andthis seemed the obvious choice, asthe obesity epidemic is the biggesthealth problem in Europe.

“The particular focus for us wasthe kids. These are the people wecan try and help educate from ayoung age, the ones who can learnfrom us and go on and live ahealthy and active life.”

Patrick knows it will take morethan a cookbook but feels if theycan go someway to setting young-sters on the right path then theproject has been worthwhile.

“We are doing something ratherthan nothing,” he said.

“The football theme is a particu-lar hook we can use in our posi-tion.

“You think of a young kid inEngland. He idolises StevenGerrard and suddenly there infront of him is something he cancopy, something he can do.

“It’s only one recipe but once thatkid sees how his idol eats hopefullythe knock on effect will come, andthat kid will see how important ahealthy diet is. Place that with kick-ing the ball around and you havenutrition and exercise and are onthe right road.”

The book will be on general salebut will also act as a valuableresource for public health depart-ments and teachers.

Footballers cook up a planto get kids eating healthily

PatrickGasser

“It’s only one recipe but once that kid sees how hisidol eats hopefully the knock on effect will come,and that kid will see how important a healthy diet is.Place that with kicking the ball around and you havenutrition and exercise and are on the right road.”

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SUE Smith is one of the mostprominent names in women’sfootball. Having played forTranmere Rovers since shewas a teenager, Sue signed forLeeds in 2002.

She has also played forEngland and has twice wonthe Nationwide InternationalPlayer of the year award.

However things weren’talways so rosy, and Sueadmits the opportunities forher to play football as ayoungster were very limited.

She said: “It was so differentthen to what it is now. When Iwent to school it was very,very traditional.

“Boys played football andrugby and girls played hockeyand netball, it was so stereo-typical.

“I was very sporty so Iplayed all the sports availableto me but I wanted to playfootball and that opportunitywas not there for me in

school. I had to play at break-time or lunchtime with theboys or after school.”

Sue played in a boys’ teamfrom being nine before mov-ing to girls’ team, St Helens.But, she claims, it was a hap-hazard concept and she didn’tplay with a ‘proper set up’until she went to Tranmere,aged 14.

Sue is now an ambassadorfor Footie Chicks, which isrunning a series of girls’ soc-cer schools.

She added: “These schoolstake the uncomfortable ele-ments away. They are for girlsrun by girls and they can feelmore comfortable andrelaxed and enjoy their foot-ball. They are a great idea anda good way to get girlsinvolved and get themactive.”

Sue will be coaching withinternational colleagueLeanne Hall but she hopes to

offer an all round healthypackage.

She said: “Whilst Leannewill be predominantly coach-ing I will be looking more atthe fitness side whilst coach-ing as well.

“My background is sportsscience and I will be teachingthe girls about nutrition anddiet and hydration. It is allabout educating them at ayoung age.

“Sometimes parents don’tknow about all these thingsso it’s up to schools like theseto educate kids.

“You see boys in academiesfrom the age of six or sevenand this is drilled into themso why should it be any dif-ferent for girls?

“It’s not about being strictit’s about helping them tolearn about food and diet fortheir own health benefits andif they want to progress in thesport.”

England international footballer Sue Smith says girls now have more opportunities than ever to play the sport.Lyndsey Smith found out more.

Sue Smith

Why footballer Sue isbacking Footie Chicks

A PARTNERSHIP development man-ager has launched a new programmethat allows deaf youngsters to attendsports workshops with paralympians.

Former athlete Rebecca Foster, fromthe Outwood Grange School SportsPartnership, networked with EnglandAthletics and Deaf UK athletics toarrange at event that allowed young-sters from the Yorkshire DeafAthletics to meet paralympians atEnglish Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

Rebecca, who does sign languageand is a coach herself, said: “Weneeded some sort of support forthese kids. They weren’t pickedbecause they are disadvantaged, theywere picked purely because of theirathletic ability.”

The event included presentations

from Deaf UK athletics, a sportsnutritionist and practical sessions ledby England Athletics coaches.

Rebecca added: “People may askabout why they are not integrated butthe thing is they are often at a disad-vantage. How do they hear thestarter’s gun for example?

“It is all about supporting theiridentity. It’s not about isolating themit’s about making things easier andalso allowing them to enjoy a socialgathering.”

Rebecca networked with otherPDMs in Yorkshire and Hull request-ing for help with the event and shehopes it will continue.

She is also pushing for deaf athletesto train alongside hearing athletes atdevelopmental camps.

New programme launched

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THE face of PE at Winterhill Schoolwas overhauled in September whenthe curriculum changed.

Lessons had primarily been games-based but head of PE Rob McGintywas keen to bring something new tothe table.

The school adopted several newstrands offered on the curriculum –the games based strand keeps the tra-ditional sports and the aestheticsstrand includes gymnastics, danceand aerobics.

But, Rob pushed ahead with theadventure strand, offering BMX bik-ing. The school and Rotherham BMXClub donated £6,000 to buy the bikesand Kelvin Batey – who was the num-ber one British BMX biker for tenyears – was approached to be acoach.

Rob said: “He was due to go toBeijing but suffered a bad injury. Heis from the area and had set his sightson becoming a PE teacher.

“We are supporting him with thatand he has become a teaching assis-tant at the school. We are helping himwith his development and in returnthe kids receive expert tuition.”

Kelvin also runs an extra curricular

club which Rob says is a huge suc-cess.

He added: “It is also true to say weare experiencing less behavourialproblems and it is certainly workingin this school.

“This shows we made the rightchoice in offering something that lit-tle bit different and basically studentsare running to their PE classes, theycan’t wait to get there.

“Another thing is they don’t actuallyrealise the level of exercise they areputting in because they are having somuch fun.

“Kids’ fitness and health is a bigissue in this country at the momentand when they are riding around thetrack and performing their skills theyare undergoing a sustained period ofexercise and there has been a hugeimprovement in exercise rates.”

Rob says self esteem and positivityfrom the students has increased andnow more children are choosing thebiking - rather than opting for theusual games-based options.

He added: “We operate on a choicesystem and it’s all about personalisedlearning and it’s certainly working forus.”

BMX biking became an Olympic event for the first timein Beijing this year. Now a school in South Yorkshire hasadded the sport to its PE curriculum. Lyndsey Smithfound out more.

PE curriculumoverhauledat Winterhill

Students model sportswearTWO Cheshire students who tookpart in testing a new sportswearrange have been asked to modelthe garments in a national cata-logue.

Stephanie Wilson and JossCropper,17, were part of a groupwho took part in a 12 month proj-ect to put technical sports clothing

through its paces for Runcorn-based manufacturer SportswearInternational.

The Lymm High School pupils aretaking a Btec National Diploma insports coaching development andwere asked to compile a monthlyreport on fit, fabric and durability.

By Lyndsey Smith

BRITISH Olympic champion SallyGunnell has opened a new sportsfacility at a girls’ school inWorcestershire.

To celebrate, students from MalvernSt James school were joined by pupilsfrom Dyson Perrins, Hanley Castleand The Chase for community sportsmorning, run as part of their SportsLeader Award. 200 pupils agedbetween nine and ten took part in thecircuit.

Malvern headteacher RosalindHayes said: “In just ten months wehave created a state of the art, eco-friendly, modern sports centre.

“The excellent facilities and thevariety of sports on offer are verymuch for the benefit of both the girlsat Malvern St James and also thecommunity in which the school isbased.”

The facility has badminton, netball,volleyball, basketball and hockeycourts as well as a gym and climbingwall.

Fiona Sedgley (head girl), Sally Gunnell and Abigail Sands (deputy head girl).

Sally opens sportsfacility at girls’ school

Council partnership hopes toscore a try with youngstersA PARTNERSHIP has been formed aspart of a £25,000 initiative to offerrugby union to more youngsters.

Nottingamshire County Council hasteamed up with the local rugby unionclub for a 12 month programme thatwill see coaching sessions offered inschools.

Geoff Huckstep, chairman ofNottingham Rugby, said: “This part-

nership will make a significant differ-ence to young people. Over the pastfive years we have coached over 60,000 children of both sexesand from a variety of backgrounds.

“This new partnership will enableus to reach out even further acrossthe county and to help inspire and challenge children to live activeand healthy lifestyles whilst havingfun.”

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By Lyndsey SmithAN annual school sports festival hashad a 47 per cent increase in partici-pation since teaming up with aPrimary Care Trust and sports devel-opment team.

The Brighton and Hove SSP, led bythe Dorothy Stringer School, ran thefestival to offer a range of activitiesfor free or at a reduced rate over atwo week period.

Partnership development managerAndy Marchant approached thecouncil with the idea of expanding toinvolve the community and offersomething different.

He said: “We started the festival in2006 with an aim of getting morekids, clubs and parents involved inphysical activity.

“We had over 5,000 kids taking partand that increased to over 11,000 lastyear. It was obvious the demand wasthere so we teamed up with the coun-cil and PCT to come up with the firstcitywide sporting festival.”

There were 101 taster activities andsessions across 25 sports and activi-ties including open days, coachingsessions and exercise classes, withover 70 local clubs facilitating activi-ties.

“The link up between the schooland clubs is all important,” said Andy.“We need to get youngsters involvedin out of school activities as well as incurriculum time.”

Shelley Mayern, sports developmentofficer for the council, added: “Itexceeded all expectations andachieved significant levels of partici-pation and the challenge is to capturethe momentum built as a result of thefirst year’s pilot and increase thenumber of participants in sport allyear round.

“There will be four more festivals upto 2012 building the festival into oneof the regions main legacy events forthe Olympics and we hope to contin-ue as an annual event for many yearsto come.”

Pupils at a school in Southallhave been the first in the countryto take part in the FIA’s newActive At School community pro-gramme.Some 20 ten to 11 year olds fromBeaconsfield primary school, haveparticipated during the six weekperiod at Southall sport’s centre,taking part in multi-sports activi-ties, games and athletics.Pictured with the youngsters are,back, from left, Zerritha Brown(FIA’s programmes departmentmanager), Andrew Rogers(Southall Sports Centre generalmanager), Neville Graham (fitnessconsultant, Southall SportsCentre), Alex Smith (FIA’s programmes co-ordinator). Localmayor Councillor Ian Green is alsopictured.

School sportsfestival sees47% increase

By Lyndsey Smith

THE Skip2bfit schools’ programmehas become a member of the YouthSports Trust’s Business Honours Club.

The company was accepted follow-ing a presentation by founder JohnMcCormack, to a panel of YST judges.

Skip2bfit has already been proven toraise standards in numeracy inschools, by using digital skippingropes to enhance learning, and bychallenging children to improve andrecord their own data.

John said: “Motivation and sustain-ability are the key to our success andthis is why I developed a six-weekchallenge.

“We visit for one day to motivate thewhole school, and then the schoolsare given our kitbag of ropes alongwith classroom challenge charts, les-son plans and music to follow.

“Everyone is given fruit followingour visit as I passionately believe youshould talk to children about healthyeating when they have exercised.”

John and Youth Sports Trust chairperson, Sue Campbell, present a trophy to the winningPDM at the national School Sports Conference in Telford, after she did 291 skips in twominutes.

Skip2bfit joins Youth SportsTrust business honours club

23 12/12/08 15:47 Page 1

Active Play24

By Lyndsey Smith

AUTISTIC kids in Dorset are bene-fiting from new play equipmentinstalled at their school, despiteusually finding interactive playvery difficult.

Yewstock School in SturminsterNewton report a hugely positiveeffect on the kids since theyinstalled a range of Sutcliffe playequipment.

Headteacher John Lineton said:“Usually they tend not to beincluded, but since the completion

of our £120,000 playground, theopportunities for play are makingour autistic children want to bepart of what’s going on.”

Yewstock caters for 128 pupils, allof whom have some form of learning difficulties with manyhaving additional physical disabili-ties too.

John said play is a very importantfactor in their education and devel-opment.

He added: “One of the reasonschildren are sent to a specialschool is because of developmental

delays, either physically, inter-per-sonally or in social skills.

“Play is an important factor inhelping them deal with these chal-lenges and one of the core purpos-es of the school is to address thetriad of impairment faced by autis-tic children.

“These are communication,social integration and interactiveplay, and the good news is thatSutcliffe’s innovative range ofequipment is helping us tacklethese challenges.”

The playground is also having a

positive effect on the behaviour ofhis autistic pupils so they are muchmore settled back in the classroom,and John added: “As well as theother benefits, the equipment isvisually stimulating, durable, safeand needs very little maintenance.

“To the best of my knowledge thisis possibly the only truly inclusiveplayground in Dorset.

“ I’m getting a regular flow ofhead teachers from other schoolscoming in to inspect it and there’sno doubt it’s been money wellspent.”

New play equipment bringsboost for autistic children

Ex-pupils from a school in London were onhand to open a new range of play equip-ment at their old primary, which they havedesigned themselves.Children at Fitzjohns school, Camden, metHattie and Tim Coppard, a brother and sis-ter who attended the school in the sixties,and are now designers at Snug.Hattie said: “Snug is a completely newapproach to school playground design, cre-ating a flexible environment for play andlearning which changes the psychology ofthe playground.“Children work together to build their own

playscapes and this encourages their coop-eration and creativity.”The design company have also launched anew campaign to bring creativity to schoolplaygrounds and are offering five schoolsa free playground consultation.Head teacher at Fitzjohns, Rob Earrey, said:“The moveable parts are used to greateffect and the amount of imaginative playthat now happens during the day is stag-gering – a very tangible result of this is thefall in the number of lunchtime complaintsand incidents.”

24 12/12/08 15:46 Page 1

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Funding bringsextension forplay facilitiesBy Lyndsey Smith

JUNIOR school children areenjoying new play equipment inWest Sussex after fundingallowed an extension to facili-ties.

The recreation ground had traditional play equipment suited for smaller children butnearly £30,000 in funding hasallowed Pulborough ParishCouncil to extend the facilitiesfor older children in the community.

Installed by Monster PlaySystems the play area now pro-vides a BigToys Highland playunit and a Rock’nCross multirider see-saw overhead chal-lenge.

Chair of the recreation andopen spaces committee CounChristine Barnett said: “We

know from experience that olderchildren want play equipmentthat challenges their ingenuity.

“It was robust so it would resistthe hard wear it wouldinevitably get, and being manu-factured from recycled materialswas a real bonus, supporting thecouncil’s policy of increasingrecycling and reducing theamount of refuse going to land-fill sites.

“Since it was installed, thereare always groups of older chil-dren climbing over it and theysit at the top chatting and use itas a meeting place and the Rock‘n Cross swing proved a realchallenge as it took the young people several days towork out how to use it, but judg-ing from the reaction of the chil-dren, it has been a great suc-cess.”

Have you got a story for us? Call Lyndsey Smith on 01226 734472 or email ls@whpl.net

London schoolchildrentake a real shine to SnugEQUIPMENT designed to transformplaygrounds into creative landscapeshas proved to be a great success withprimary school kids in London.

Children at Key Meadows school,Enfield, have taken a real shine to theSnug – developed by Snug & Outdoorand Sutcliffe Play – which can beused both indoors and outdoors.

The kit comprises nine large scale,inter-related, colourful, flexibleshapes which can be moved, joinedand arranged to create new environ-ments for play.

Lawrence Price, head teacher saidSnug had proved extremely popular.“If anything, it has proved a little toopopular, with 300 youngsters makinga beeline for it.

“The children enjoy it very much.They can be quite active and it’s veryphysical equipment with a lot of bal-ancing.

“There are no limits, it can chal-lenge youngsters, and I like that sortof play structure. Fixed apparatus hasits place, but if it’s a boat, it’s a boat,and there aren’t so many things youcan do with it.”

The concept is the result of research

and evaluation into the way childrenbehave, react and play in specificenvironments.

The inclusion of the kit into schoolsallows children to develop new waysof playing and encourages creativity,social interaction and cooperation.

Mr Price believes the social aspect isjust as important. He said: “There is alot of co-operating so it’s quite asociable experience.

“Snug teaches children about citi-zenship. They can learn to socialise,support each other, co-operate, taketurns, negotiate, and even comethrough arguments.”

“I can see potential for Snug beingused at social times, playtimes,lunchtimes but also curriculumtimes. “The obvious is PE and move-ment activity, but it also has greatpotential for language development –speaking and listening, drama activi-ty, and story telling.”

Mandy Lawrence, phase leader, keystage one, added: “As a PE specialist Ialways say to the children that theirbrains should be as tired as their bod-ies and using Snug during this ses-sion has really got them to think.”

An outdoor gym has been installed inBedford offering a wide range of equip-ment to help youngsters get fit and keepfit.Funding has allowed Bromham ParishCouncil to provide the al fresco fitnessrange, which includes varying units forstretching, flexing, toning and strengthen-ing.Researched, designed and developed byWicksteed in association with Staffordshire

University’s Centre for Sport and Exercise,the range can be used by anyone over theage of twelve.A Wicksteed spokesman said: “We all knowthat activities to promote healthier andhappier bodies should be a part of ourdaily lives, but getting ourselves to thelocal gym or using facilities in schoolssometimes proves too difficult. With out-door fitness equipment such as this, there’sreally no excuse not to have a go.”

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SCHOOLS within St Helens havebeen supported by local gym StHelens Fitness 500 for the last sevenyears and this partnership providespupils with access to the gym facili-ties and specialist training from itsinstructors.

The relationship began when thegym allowed its instructors to go intoschools to deliver Boxercise sessionsto groups of girls who did not want toparticipate in traditional sports. Sincethen, over 2,000 have taken part.

The gym closes its ladies-only sec-tion on set days to allow Sutton HighSports College to deliver GCSE ses-sions to its pupils.

Sutton School Sport Partnershipdevelopment manager Rob Vaughansaid the key to the programme’s suc-cess is that it offers something differ-ent to traditional after school clubs,allowing children who do not want toplay team sports with an alternativeway of keeping fit.

Rob said: “This has allowed thepupils to become familiar with thegym and the instructors as many stat-ed that they would like to join a gymbut felt embarrassed or intimidated.It also meant that girls who cameduring the curriculum or out of hourssessions were familiar with the equip-ment and felt confident to access the

ladies-only section on their own.“The Boxercise programme is focus-

ing on key stage four girls as there istraditionally a drop off rate for girls inafter school clubs so we were lookingfor different activities that girls cando that are good for them.

“There is a massive problem withobesity and we need to give youngpeople the opportunity to take part inhealthy activity. This programmegives them the opportunity to to goto the gym in groups and becausethey are with their friends, they arenot embarrassed to train.

“Schools should be forging linkswith gyms. I can’t see any reason whythis could not happen all over thecountry – there are a lot of youngpeople out there who want to accessthe gym. This is an activity they cango to with friends without the stigmaof going in front of people they donot know.”

Through a combination of lotteryfunding, extended schools and a 50per cent price reduction by the gym,

Pupils are also given a six monthpass to continue with their friends intheir own time. Over 160 passes havebeen given out to pupils on theSutton partnership – with every onethose students accessing the gym outof school hours.

A St Helens-basedproject that aimsto get schoolpupils intoexercise with thesupport of thelocal independentgym is proving agreat success.Christina Ecclesfound out why.

Gym managerJohn Tatlockwith some ofthe pupilstaking partin the project.

‘We offer something different’ THE scheme is a good way to get those who do not like traditional school sports to getinto health and fitness, accordingto the owner of the gym takingpart.

John Tatlock – who owns StHelens Fitness 500 – said it isimportant to give young people awider choice to help them findsomething they enjoy.

He said: “We offer somethingdifferent.

“Not everyone wants to do football and rugby and they likecoming into this type of environ-ment.

“It’s working well and quite a

few of them have also joined afterschool.

“It is good for their health andfitness but we have also done it tohelp them mentally with doingtheir exams and providing stressrelief.

“If it is only five out of 100 thattake it up then they are still doingsomething constructive and mak-ing themselves look and feel bet-ter.

“We have also been able to gettheir parents into the gym as thekids go home and say what they have achieved and thisencourages the parents to jointoo.”

Gym providespupils withfacility access

Funding boostLOTTERY funding from the Wales SportsCouncil has led to the formation of a vil-lage rugby union club.

A £992 community chest grant will helpGlyn Ceiriog Rugby Union Club buy con-tact pads, balls and marker cones, andput two volunteers through level oneand two coaching qualifications. Weeklytwo-hour sessions will be offered for 24juniors.

Graham Edwards, coach and fixturesecretary, said: “We want to provide localsporting opportunities for young peoplein the village and to encourage moreyoung people to participate in rugbyunion in a recognised, controlled envi-ronment.”

Donation for schoolA NEWMARKET school guttedby fire has received a boost aftera sports company donated themover £500 of new equipment.

St Felix Middle school wasdestroyed by arsonists andDavies Sports have donated aselection of sports resourcesincluding a netball class pack,agility ladder, badminton shut-tles and cricket balls.

Mike Tracey, PE teacher, said:“It has been a tremendous com-fort to everyone and a muchneeded boost for the children atthis difficult time.”

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LET’S Get Healthy was set up in 2006with the aim of getting 50,000 of thecountry’s employees working out.But founder Maria Bourke soonfound that it wasn’t just the adultsthat needed help and started puttingthe company’s mobile health studioto work in schools and youth clubs.

She said: “We had been carryingout focus groups with unfit adults inorder to find out why they dislikedthe idea of exercise, and they all sug-gested that we tried the same thingwith children.

“So, working with LeedsMetropolitan University, we set outto to research the idea and carriedout workshops with kids, parents,teachers, headteachers and primarycare trusts.”

The trial was so successful that thecompany has developed a 12 weekprogramme for seven to 13 year oldswith lessons on physical activity,nutrition, healthy lifestyles and deal-ing with bullying.

Each weekly session lasts one hourand parents are invited to join in forthe last fifteen minutes so that thekids can show them what they havelearned.

Over 200 children have taken partin the pilot schemes throughout2008 and from January another4,000 are signed up to complete theprogramme.

So far over 90 per cent of the kidshave stayed with the course for thefull three months, and about 50 percent of parents have come along tothe sessions.

Maria added: “We train teachers,parents and youth leaders to run thecourse so that they can take it backto their school or club and hopefullyrun it again and again.

“We also know the parents’ involve-ment is key, so we have also come upwith the idea of giving the kids take-aways each week, including pedome-ters, hoops and balls, anything that

A corporate health and fitness company has branched out into children’s health by taking a mobile gym to schoolsand youth clubs. Louise Cordell reports.

Why Maria went back to schoolwill help to get the families active.”

The company is now also aiming toget local authorities involved in theprogrammes, by asking them todonate health club or swimmingpool vouchers that can be given outto the children, encouraging them to

get active.

Maria added: “I think by workingtogether with local authority andprivate clubs we have the bestchance of getting as many kids aspossible active, and filling up gymsin the process.”

Fun scheme goes nationwideA SCHEME to introduce pupils to ahealthier lifestyle has been so suc-cessful it is now being rolled outacross the county.

The Durham and Chester-le-StreetLifestyle Initiative introduced a localproject to tackle child obesity threeyears ago and from April next year itwill be taken up by every council inthe area.

The Family Initiative SupportingChildren’s Health (FISCH) schemeprovides a physical activity officer fordifferent schools each term whoworks with pupils from years threeand four to help them get active.

The aim is to tackle child obesitybefore it becomes a serious problemand help to prevent young peopleneeded specialist care later on.

Melissa Roach, physical activity offi-cer, said: “Each term the coordinator

goes to different schools to get thekids exercising and having fun and ithas proved to be a big success.

“The pupils take part in exerciseand games classes in a mixture ofbefore, during and after school ses-sions.”

Children taking part in the pro-gramme are given the chance todecide what type of activities theywould like to take part in, andwhether they prefer outdoor orindoor, team or individual sports, inorder to help them keep up thelifestyle changes when the project iscompleted.

The activity officer also worksalongside a PCT school nurse, whodelivers lessons on nutrition, healthyeating and portion sizes to help getthe kids into the right eating habitsearly.

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A £300,000 gym at a specialist col-lege has been reopened after itwas destroyed by fire lastDecember.Queen Alexandra College – foradults and youngsters with senso-ry, physical and cognitive impair-ments – was left with a burned outshell after the accidental blaze.It has now been repaired and kit-ted out with 36 stations of StageTwo IFI accredited Cybex CV andresistance equipment, freeweightsarea and a balcony housing astretch area and it has been brand-ed as Feelgood Health and Fitness.Feelgood Health and Fitness, whichis located in Harborne area ofBirmingham, is a dual use facility.The centre currently has 400 mem-bers, 500 pay and play customersand is used by the 150 studentsand staff at the College.

Fit futurefor former nightclubBy Lyndsey Smith

A FORMER university nightclubhas been turned into a state-of-the-art fitness centre in a bid tohelp students keep fit andhealthy.

The Queen Mary University ofLondon, Mile End, has spent£5m developing the Qmotionhealth and fitness centre, on thesite of the student union enter-tainment facilities.

Manager Charlotte Kendricksaid the aim was to provide stu-dents with an improvement onthe small gym that the universityrelied on before.

She added: “It has proved to bean extremely positive develop-ment and the gym has over 2000members already and we onlyopened in September.

“The health and fitness issue isconstantly in the news and theuniversity are trying to do theirbit in developing this gym.

“Because it’s a brand new con-cept for us we have to put ourown mark on it as we aren’tinheriting someone else’s ideas.

“We aim to be successful butnot at the cost of our memberswhich a lot of gyms do. I comefrom a fitness background andhave worked in an environment

where prices are being continu-ally hiked up.

“We need to take stock of howthings work and find out whatthe students, staff and publicwant as we are also available forexternal membership and hire.”

The gym offers a fitness areaalong with a sports specific area,two studios, a sports hall, squashcourt and dedicated ladies onlygym.

There is also a treatment sec-tion that provides acupuncture,homeopathy, sports and remedi-al massage therapy and theBowen Technique which is agentle and non-invasive series ofsoft tissue moves performed overmuscles, ligaments and tendons.

Charlotte added: “We hope tokeep adding and developing aswe go along. The students havereally taken to he concept andalthough we are open to thepublic our members are pre-dominantly from the studentbody.

“We offer great membershiprates for them and the feedbackso far has been exceptionallypositive. It is a case of trial anderror but if we can continue inthis vein hopefully we will con-tinue from strength to strength.”

A WORLD champion cyclist visitedLondon’s largest health and fitness club ina bid to inspire children to becomeinvolved in physical activity.

Central YMCA – home to more than5,000 members – played host to goldmedallist Nicole Cooke, as she met chil-dren from the Y Active programme, set upto encourage children aged two to 14 totake part in regular exercise.

The kids had the chance to show offtheir own cycling skills on the club’s train-ing bikes and Barry Cronin, club execu-tive director, said: “We were honoured tohave Nicole at our club. She is an inspira-

tion, not only to the children we workwith, but to people of all ages throughoutBritain.”

Nicole spoke about the essential ingre-dients needed to achieve cycling successand underlined the pivotal role her par-ents’ play in helping her realise herOlympic dream.

She also learned how the Club’s Y Activeprogramme is transforming the lives ofchildren and young people by providingactivities including aikido, trampolining,drama classes, play schemes and holidayprogrammes in a safe and fun environ-ment.

Olympic Gold and world champion cyclist Nicole Cooke (left) and Central YMCA chief executive RosiPrescott (on right) with children from the Central YMCA Club Y Active programme.

Champion cyclist peddlesphysical activity to children

Sports self esteem programme is launched nationwideA PROGAMME that aims to raise selfesteem through sport has beenlaunched in schools across the UK.

The Motive8 course – designed byschools manager Tim Holdsworth –centres on teamwork and communi-cation, which helps students realisethe importance of their contribution.

Tim said: “It is about feeling goodabout the person you are. While it’snormal for adults to lack confidencefrom time to time, it’s important that

children should feel happy aboutthemselves the majority of the time.

“Many studies have shown thatyouths receiving extra physical activi-ty have a tendency to demonstrateimproved attributes such asadvanced brain function, increasedself-esteem and better behaviour, allof which influence many aspects ofschool and social life.”

The course is linked to a worksheetthat supports individual lesson

objectives, such as communicationskills, being open and gaining a senseof identity as a group.

The programme has already beentrialled in one secondary school withwith pupils from years seven, eightand nine chosen at a teacher’s rec-ommendation.

Year seven children with particular-ly low confidence were chosen toparticipate whilst years eight andnine were selected for being ill-disci-

plined and having lack of concentra-tion during lessons.

Tim added: “By using team workand thinking outside the box in phys-ical activity, the children learned howto channel their attention to the taskahead of them.

“Self-esteem helps children try newtasks and skills without any worry offailure and it gives them the abilityto make friends easily and also builda solid foundation for life.”

Four new FitKid franchisesopen across countryA NATIONAL fitness brand which specialises in kids’ fit-ness has seen four new franchises open in the space of amonth.

Nicky Kay, franchise director for FitKid, said the newfranchisees will cover North Sunderland, Tyne and Wear,Norwich, Islington and Stoke Newington, and WoodGreen.

She added: “This franchise is so important to us to helpspread the word about childhood obesity and work withas many people as possible to give our children the beststart.”

The pilot franchise, in Poole and Bournemouth is nowrunning over 35 classes a week and new projects havealso been secured with Bournemouth School SportsPartnership.

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By Lyndsey Smith

FUNDING has been given to a schoolin Scotland to buy new equipment tohelp pupils with additional supportneeds get fit.

The sports and physical activitiesprogramme at MusselburghGrammar school has been awardedmoney from the UlvercroftFoundation for the Visually Impaired, to pay for two tandembicycles.

Robert Woodhead, sport and physi-cal activities co-ordinator for East

Lothian Council, is assigned to theschool to deliver an alternative PEcurriculum.

He said: “The tandems have beenused to allow our visually impairedpupils and learning support pupils toaccess alternative physical activity,and they also increase the socialaspect of exercise.”

The school also offers swimming,new age curling, boccia, skittles,Nintendo Wii and dance mats, noncontact boxing, fitness, and heart-start, and Robert believes the variety

of options is beneficial for the pupils.He said: “Part of my remit is to

develop an alternative curriculum fordisadvantaged kids who havebehavourial problems, learning dis-abilities, or visual or hearing impair-ments, and providing a wide range ofactivities goes someway towardsdoing that.

“I have 15 kids who access my pro-gramme. They are integrated into theschool and are in mainstream PE, butthe quality for them is not so good.

“We give them another outlet where

they can enjoy a more relaxed envi-ronment whilst keeping fit andhealthy and having fun.”

Robert also tries to access as manycompetitions as possible and theschool is involved in the

Scottish disability sport cross coun-try, LD national swimming gala andLD Football.

They also link up with EdinburghUniversity to provide support to theirtrainee teachers to work with LDpupils to allow for better deliverywith this type of group.

Kids withthe newtandem

Tandem funding gives pupils a wheely big boost

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