QuadKids is a new athletics concept designed to give more children the opportunity to participate in and enjoy the benefits of track & field athletics and also to identify the stars of tomorrow. The scheme aims to be inclusive, competitive, quick, fun and simple to run. It is a team based quadrathlon competition where each athlete does a sprint, a middle distance run, a long jump and a throw, and it is primarily targeted at pupils aged between 7 and 13.

www.quadkids.org

Find out more about the scheme in the ‘About‘ section of their site, or register to download information about running a Quadkids event at your school.

Finally Gordon Brown has done something that I think is good – he has said that competitive sports will become the norm in all schools again.  He said:

"We want to encourage competitive sports in schools, not the ‘medals for all’ culture we have seen in previous years. It was wrong because it doesn’t work. In sport you get better by challenging yourself against other people. A lot of sports are team games where people have to work together but they play against other teams."

He also said in an attempt to encourage more girls to take up sport, female Olympic stars, including Dame Kelly Holmes, Christine Ohuruogu, Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton and Beth Tweddle, would head up a new taskforce promoting sport to girls.

He announced that plans are also under way for a new website for school sports where teams will be able to compare their performance in nationwide league tables – is this instead of the SATs league tables?

Five schools in Worcestershire have used Wii consoles to get children who consistently missed PE lessons exercising. The scheme has been praised and there is the possibility other schools may follow. A spokesman for Droitwich and Worcester City School Partnership said:

“The use of computer games to increase physical activity levels and raise attainment to some would seem contradictory but with rigid structures in place and by using specific games students soon found themselves being active and engaged almost without realising it.”

However, Nick Seaton of the Campaign for Real Campaign has dismissed the idea that the Wii promotes fitness by stating pupils would be far better off in indulging in serious competitive sports rather than ‘this sort of thing’. He went on to say it is pandering to the views of the physically idle and looks like another gimmick. He said:

“Pupils would be far better doing serious competitive sports and games than this sort of thing. It looks like another gimmick. It’s pandering to the views of the physically idle.”

Last week an osteopath said he had seen a rise in the number of people with back strain from playing the consoles too much over the Christmas holiday. Martin Davies said he had 20 patients with “Nintendo Wii Syndrome” pass through his Cheshire practice in the fortnight after Christmas alone. Nintendo say it is easy for players “fully enjoy their games without causing injury to themselves” as long as they follow the safety guidelines.

However maybe we need more Wii’s in the classroom. A third of teachers struggle to use the technology schools are equipped with and want more support and training according to the NFER’s Teacher Voice Omnibus survey.

According to OFSTED primary schools may need to consult local mosques and involve families in their efforts to get all children in England swimming. Although most 11-year-olds did now reached the target of 25 metres some groups of pupils were missing out, including ethnic minorities with little experience of swimming. In a quarter of the 12 local authorities visited, the way that swimming facilities had been centralised meant pupils spent more than twice as long travelling to the pool as they spent in the water.

Most teaching of swimming was classed as good, with teachers often being qualified swimming instructors and good attention was paid in most instances to ensuring that appropriate account was taken of cultural issues, the report said. With regards to the lack of progress in ethnic minorities they said:

“Evidence from this small sample of schools suggested that pupils from some black minority ethnic groups often started with less experience of swimming than other groups and made the least progress. Providers did not always recognise or acknowledge this in their planning. Instances of good practice included consultation with a local mosque on how to improve participation of Muslim pupils, and family swimming programmes to involve parents from black minority ethnic groups.”

Gifted and talented swimmers were often not well catered for, the report said. And the tracking of the individual progress made by all pupils was generally not well done. Teaching was often less effective with pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The swimming teachers lacked experience and confidence with these pupils and sometimes resorted to excluding them from lessons in the absence of other strategies.

My experience of swimming has been really mixed. Some authorities that I have worked for have really impressed me (Trafford) whilst others I feel let the children down (Warrington). In all of the schools I’ve been in apart from Manchester the travelling to the pool has taken longer than the swimming lesson which is awful!

The 2006/07 School Sport Survey found that 86 per cent of pupils now participate
in at least two hours of PE and school sport per week, meaning that the
Government has met its target – for 85 per cent to do two hours of PE and school
sport per week by 2008 – a year ahead of schedule.

Other key findings from the report, based on a survey of more than 21,700
maintained schools, show:

• Competitive sport is on the increase – 98 per cent of schools reported
  that they held at least one sports day during 2006/07, while a further 58 per
  cent of schools hold other intra-school competitions. Meanwhile, more than a
  third (35 per cent) of pupils were involved in inter-school competitions last
  year. Participation rates in inter-school competition vary by age, reaching a
  peak of 61 per cent among 10 to 11 year olds. All comparable figures show rises
  in the proportion playing competitive sport.
• The variety of sports offered at schools is rising – the average range of sports offered by
  primary school has increased to 16.0.
• Many schools are embracing non-traditional sports – the proportion of
  schools offering golf (up from 23 per cent to 31 per cent), cycling (up from 34
  per cent to 42 per cent), archery (up from 16 per cent to 22 per cent), canoeing
  (up from 24 per cent to 29 per cent) and orienteering (up from 55 per cent to 59
  per cent) have risen significantly over the last twelve months.
• Familiar sports remain pre-eminent in schools – the five most popular
  sports offered by schools are football (98 per cent), dance (96 per cent),
  gymnastics (95 per cent), athletics (93 per cent) and cricket (90 per cent).
• Schools are building more links with local clubs – schools now have
  links to seven different sports clubs. Two years ago, the average was just five.
  The most common links are with football clubs (78 per cent), cricket (56 per
  cent), dance (45 per cent), rugby union (44 per cent) and swimming (42 per
  cent).
• Schools are getting better at identifying sporting excellence – the
  proportion of pupils registered gifted and talented has more than doubled in
  four years – from 3 per cent in 2003/04 to 7 per cent this year.

Well done to us all!

A £100m campaign to give every child the chance of five hours of sport every
week was announced by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown on Friday.

He called for a ‘united team effort’ in the run up to 2012 to make sport
a part of every child’s day to build a greater sporting nation and a fitter
nation. He wants schools, parents, volunteers, coaches and the sports world to
offer the equivalent of an hour of sport to every child, every day of the school
week.

The plans include greater emphasis on competition within and between
schools, a network of competition managers and a new National School Sports
Week.
The new funding will provide:

• up to five hours of sport per week for all pupils, including two hours
  within the curriculum, and three hours for young people aged 16-19;
• a new National School Sport Week, championed by Dame Kelly Holmes where
  all schools will be encouraged to run sports days and inter-school tournaments.
  This will build on the success of the UK School Games and its impact on
  motivating young people to take part in competitive sport;
• a network of 225 competition managers across the country to work with
  primary and secondary schools to increase the amount of competitive sport they
  offer;
• more coaches in schools and the community to deliver expert sporting
  advice to young people.
  The Government will also challenge the sporting bodies to develop modern
  school sport competitions leading to local, regional and national finals.

The new funding builds on the £633 million already committed to creating
a world-class school sport and PE system over the next three years.

At present, 37 per cent of pupils take part in sporting competition between
schools, and 71 per cent within their own school. The measures and investment
announced today aim to ensure that all children get the opportunity to take part
in competitive sport, whatever their ability.

Mark Lupton has written an interesting article for the Guardian
on how sports have helped improve the SATs results in St Leonard’s
primary school, Lancashire.  It’s an interesting article, and certainly
one that you may want to read if you’re thinking about how your
playground could be used to it’s full potential.  The headteacher
finishes that article saying:

"The impact this has had here is remarkable – it’s a completely
different place now, it’s colourful and bright, it’s a vibrant and
dynamic place to learn. It has improved behaviour, our results are
better, the children are more confident and they have higher
aspirations, and we have far fewer cases of absenteeism in both staff
and pupils. Bullying is not an issue here.
 

The children are still coming in to the school at the same low baseline,
well below national expectations. The difference is they are leaving well above
those same national expectations."

The David Beckham Academy has added a School Zone.  According to the website, the School Zone has been designed by experts and is supported by the DfES.  In the School Zone are unique and extensive sets of teaching resources for football and health
and fitness.  All the materials are designed to complement the learning for
7-14 year olds and can be used on interactive whiteboards, as
individual online student activities or as print outs.

Registration is free, although you don’t get instant access.  Once registered you get ‘an exclusive Football Bank of Games developed by The David Beckham Academy Coaches and the vast range of interactive teaching aids for health and fitness accompanied by detailed teachers’ notes.’

Today I managed to sign our school up to a free trial of Bikeability.  Bikeability is a brand new national cycling award
scheme for Years 5 and 6 which before long will have thousands of children whizzing about
on their bikes and pedalling their way to success.

Bikeability is ‘Cycling Proficiency’ for the 21st century designed to give children the skills and confidence to cycle
safely in and around today’s modern roads and environment.  But it’s not just about teaching kids to ride a bike.
Bikeability has been introduced to help make cycling an everyday activity, an alternative mode of transport, a way to
keep healthy and above all lots of fun!

12 children will have 8 hours of cycling proficiency, 2 hours in the playground followed by 6 hours on the road.  Each child will also learn how to check that their bike is safe and receive a helmet from Warrington authority.

It’s currently only being trialled in a few areas, but is going to be rolled out across England soon.  You can signup for the latest news and information, including details of when it is available in your area, from the website.

Link: http://www.bikeability.org.uk/

A £494,000 scheme will be giving over 45,000 pedometers to those children who attend 250 primary schools in deprived areas of England in an attempt to tackle the obesity problem.  A special website has also to be setup that will chart their progress and sets targets
for their number of steps.

A scheme in 50 pilot schools showed 63% of children who took part had an increased interest in physical activity in their school. The Schools Minister, Jim Knight, said:

"Walking is one of the easiest ways
to exercise and pedometers can make it more fun for children. Schools are already increasing children’s activity levels by boosting the
opportunities to take part in PE and school sport.  Pedometers can be especially effective in encouraging young people to be
active out of school hours and at weekends."