Leadership

Sporting Future – A New Strategy for an Active Nation

With the Olympics presenting the ideal opportunity to encourage children to take an interest in sport, this policy paper clarifies the government’s sport strategy, which is designed to tackle the flatlining levels of sport participation and high levels of inactivity. Leadership Briefing 11.01(121)

The paper reaffirms the government’s commitment to Olympic and Paralympic success but also extending that ambition to non-Olympic sports with support through grassroots investment in those sports. The strategy outlines what we expect of the sector to deliver this vision, and how we will support it in getting there.

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      string(365) "... of convenience. It’s theprogress of the offspring that matters.Now I come to think of it, this could bedescribed as the ‘Humbert Humbert’marital strategy – except for the factthat Lolita’s new stepfather hardly hadher future academic schooling in mindas his major preoccupation. Even thefertile brain of Vladimir Nabokov ..."
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      string(4629) "bedrawn by fathers and mothers evenmore determined than I had imaginedto get their offspring into theirpreferred schools by hook or by crook?Well, if adoption is now fair game, thendivorce and re-marriage must be verysmall beer indeed. Any single parentswith children already at the ‘r ight’schools must be obvious targets on thisnew educational hit list.But, as I am suggesting, currentmarital status on either side shouldprovide little or no obstacle toremarriages of convenience. It’s theprogress of the offspring that matters.Now I come to think of it, this could bedescribed as the ‘Humbert Humbert’marital strategy – except for the factthat Lolita’s new stepfather hardly hadher future academic schooling in mindas his major preoccupation. Even thefertile brain of Vladimir Nabokov wouldhave found it difficult to conjure up thispotential scholastic storyline. (That said,his brilliant satire of the Amer ican waysof life and death could easily have beenenlarged to encompass a few more digsat a school ‘system’ that was, withhindsight, the progenitor of many of ourcurrent UK woes.)NightmareFor to leave satire far behind, it ismany years since I fir st read J BConant’s devastating attack onAmerican education in Slums andSuburbs. As the title suggests, he wasdepicting in the USA of the 1960s aschool system where the frontierdream of the little red schoolhouseserving all the children of the townhad already degenerated into anightmare. This nightmare was one inwhich society was becoming sopolarised that the ‘neighbourhoodhigh schools’ were becoming asstr ictly differentiated as the housingthat surrounded them.Opinion: David HellawellDavid HellawellDavid HellawellDavid HellawellDavid Hellawell 35July/August 2005Opinion: David HellawellDavid HellawellDavid HellawellDavid HellawellDavid HellawellThese were not just the old b lackand white divisions that had blightedAmerican society since the days ofslavery, but an increasingly socio-economic divide. That trend towardsgeographical segregation by wealth, orthe lack of it, in the so-called classlesssociety of the USA has only gatheredpace in the years that have passedsince then.It seemed to me deeply ironic, forexample, to be attending an Americaneducation conference at the time of thefirst Gulf War when the TV screenswere nightly proclaiming the triumphof American democracy. The ironycame from the fact that we werepresented by the desk clerk in ourhotel with street maps of New Orleansaccompanied by the str ict instructionthat for our own safety we shouldunder no circumstances walk north ofRampart Street. From a quick glance atthe map, this suggested that as far as theAmerican Dream was concerned, agood part of ‘Nawlins’ was a no-goarea. How many sink estates in ourown UK cities are now also no-goareas as far as equal opportunities andsocial justice are concerned?It was also around that time that Imet in the UK a man who just returnedfrom the USA after a decade of workthere. When I asked why he had comeback, he simply said that he couldn’tafford to buy a house in aneighbourhood where the schooling forhis children would be anywhere nearadequate. I remember being mildlyshaken by the matter-of-fact way inwhich he expressed that view. Now, Idoubt very much that a similarcomment on UK state schooling inmany cities would surprise me at all. Wehave also become a nation where theschools very much reflect the slums andsuburbs in which they are located.Is it any wonder, then, that parentsin the UK will now try every dodge inthe book – and some that aren’t in anybook I have ever come across – toensure that their children join schoolsthat are high in the ‘league tables’? Thishas become a society with league tablesfor everything. The gap between thebest-performing schools and the rest isperceived as equivalent to the yawningchasm that has opened up in footballbetween the clubs in the Premiershipand those in the Football League nowdeprived of the cash from the late andvery unlamented ITV Digital. And asfar as schooling is concerned, mostpeople’s children will now suffer thestigma and diminished life chancessynonymous with learning in a schoolthat, judged by examination results, issimply not in the top division.Dr David Hellawell is the author of numerousbooks and articles on education management,and is emeritus professor in the subject at theUniversity of Central EnglandOne long-standing,self-proclaimed atheist hasprepared for her children’sentry into the ‘best’ schoolin the area by becomingan active member of thechurch choir"
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Leadership

Slums and suburbs

1 Nov 2006

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      string(401) "8 PE & Sport Today • Autumn 2004FeaturesSpecial ReportIt gives me great pleasureto write for PE & SportToday as it gives me theopportunity to reach physicaleducation teachers and sportscoaches directly to highlightthe findings of a new reportpublished by Ofsted on theGovernment’s School SportPartnerships Programme (SSP).As readers are no doubtaware, school sportpartnerships ..."
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      string(5648) "8 PE & Sport Today • Autumn 2004FeaturesSpecial ReportIt gives me great pleasureto write for PE & SportToday as it gives me theopportunity to reach physicaleducation teachers and sportscoaches directly to highlightthe findings of a new reportpublished by Ofsted on theGovernment’s School SportPartnerships Programme (SSP).As readers are no doubtaware, school sportpartnerships involve sportscolleges, secondary schoolsand primary schools workingtogether to increase theamount of time their pupilsspend on PE and sport, bothwithin and beyond thecurriculum. Ofsted’s newreport, The School SportAsportingchanceHer Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell,writes for PE&ST about the new report on the SchoolSport Partnership Programme…Partnerships Programme,evaluation of phases 3 and4, 2003-04, comments on thesuccess of this programme,which was originally called theSchool Sport CoordinatorProgramme and was launchedin September 2000 as part ofthe Government’s nationalstrategy for PE, School Sportand Club Links (PESSCL).The overall aim of thePESSCL strategy and thepartnerships is to increase to75 per cent the proportion of5- to 16-year-old schoolchildren who spend aminimum of two hours eachweek on high quality PE andsport within and beyond thecurriculum by 2006.More importantly, a keyobjective of the partnershipsis to raise the quality of pupils’achievement.The work of thepartnerships is of interest toall PE teachers and sportscoaches dedicated toimproving the physical skills,health and fitness of theirpupils. But it is to becomeeven more important when,from September 2006, theprogramme is extended to allschools. This Ofsted reportwill be of assistance to PEteachers preparing for theroll-out because it emphasisesgood practice in existingpartnerships. Schools wheremy inspectors found examples9PE & Sport Today • Autumn 2004of good practice include:Middlehurst Special School inStoke-on-Trent,  All SaintsCatholic High School inSheffield and Manor Collegeof Technology in Hartlepool.There is much for PEteachers and coaches to takefrom the report, with manyexamples of good practiceillustrating how pupils arebenefiting from a broaderrange of opportunities withinand beyond the curriculum.These include: aqua aerobics,yoga, trampolining, table-tennisand yoga in secondary schoolsand dance, tag rugby andvolleyball in primary schools.Many more pupils are alsogaining leadership awardsenabling them to coach, leadand officiate in games andactivities. These newopportunities are making areal difference to pupils’attitudes towards PE andschool sport. The training ofmidday supervisors to engagepupils in purposeful playduring lunchtime has alsobeen a major success andsomething which otherschools could do.Modern livingAs any PE teacher knows,getting children interested andinvolved in sport at a youngage can mean they will bemore likely to continue withsport and physical exercisewhen they leave school and asthey go through life. Modernliving has seen the ascendancyof fast-food, computer gamesand television, resulting inmany young people having farless physically active andhealthy lifestyles.  Althoughschools are not the onlyguardians of the health andwell-being of the young,initiatives such as the schoolsport partnership programmecan help counterbalance thelow levels of fitness and highlevels of obesity among theyoung by helping children tobe more active and leadhealthier lives.Ofsted’s report also looksat how partnerships arestarting to tackle concernsabout pupils’ levels of fitnessby introducing huff and puffexercise sessions before thestart of school.Schools have a statutoryresponsibility to deliver thenational curriculum andunderstandably this makessignificant demands oncurriculum time. Many schoolsfeel under pressure to givemore time to the coresubjects in order to meet thekey stage targets for pupils.Inevitably the way curriculumtime is allocated to subjectswill reflect a school’s prioritiesand all too often foundationsubjects such as physicaleducation are squeezed out.The SSP programme helpsraise the profile of PE andsport in schools and I believePE and sports teachers willfind this will help their causefrom 2006.The report found that mostschools are committed toensuring pupils spend at leasttwo hours on high quality PEand school sport a week andas a result the programme isincreasing the amount of timethese pupils spend on PE andsport. This is no mean feateven with the financial backingof the Government, whichprovides each partnership withan average grant of £270,000 ayear.QualityIt is pleasing to report thatthere has been animprovement in the quality ofteaching of PE lessons andextra-curricular activities inpartnership schools, withteaching now good or betterin 60 per cent of sessions andvery good in 25 per cent ofsessions. However, if theprogramme is to meet itscommitment to high-qualityprovision for 75 per cent ofpupils, there is still much todo to further increase furtherthe proportion of good andvery good teaching.The report also highlightsways in which partnershipscan build on theimprovements they havemade. It recommendsstrengthening the extent towhich partnerships work withtheir LEAs, improving the waypartnerships monitor pupils’achievement more closely andpaying greater attention tomanaging the continuity andprogression when pupilsI believe the future is lookingbright for PE and sport in schoolstransfer from primary tosecondary school.ConvincedSome headteachers still needto be convinced of thepotential of the programmeand more needs to be doneon expanding pathways"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

A sporting chance

1 Nov 2006

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Leadership Briefing 9.11(107)"
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      string(373) "... future sport engagement strategies. ■ The broad benefits of sport needs to be better recognised within the school curriculum. ■ Invest today for a more active future.WEB LINKThe Class Of 2035: Promoting A Brighter And More Active Future For The Youth OfTomorrowhttp://www.youthsporttrust.org/media/24072132/the_class ..."
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      string(4636) "less like disruptive forcesradically changing the way that young people behave, and more like expedients recreating thepublic spaces increasingly under threat by urbanisation and constrictive social attitudes. ■ This report presents four opposing visions of what the Class of 2035 could look like, based onthe current long term trends and drivers we predict today. At present, the UK is heading neithertowards the optimal, best case scenario nor towards the worst case, dystopian future. What ismore, the long term structural changes to UK society forecasted in this work show that, althoughsignificant changes are on the horizon, this does not impede our ability to shape a better futurefor the youth of tomorrow. It is equally possible that the developments leading us towards theClass of 2035 could veer towards the optimal or the dystopian scenario. The future is up forgrabs; the optimal future is achievable, if action is taken now. ■ To promote the optimal future a long-term and joined-up strategy is essential. This would be astrategy that not only runs across both education and health, but which also appreciates the longterm effects that positive or negative levels of activity in school will have on the future health,success and wellbeing of society. Future policies must inspire fundamental and unchanging Leadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.sporting values early in life, which will naturalise high levels of activity and inspireadventurous and regular participation in sport well into adulthood. A consistent approachalong a sufficiently long time-scale is critical if goverments are to steer young peopletowards the ideal future. ■ Issues around young people’s contact with new technologies are central to this report.There is no resisting the march of technology. Policymakers can feel nostalgic for a timebefore the challenges new connected technologies have brought in engaging youngpeople, or they can harness these technologies to their advantage. It will also becomeincreasingly imperative for every child to have access to new technology in school andgreater efforts made to ensure that there is little division among the tech capabilities ofyoung people. Furthermore, in order to get children active from a young age, a moreholistic approach to PE is needed, one which integrates technology and the delivery of aseamless, intuitive and digitally enhanced form of physical activity. ■ A greater effort must be made by policymakers to include the opinions of young peoplein their decision-making. Engaging with a range of young people will be essential if PEand sporting offerings are to appeal to young people in all their diversity. To make thishappen, a change of perspective is needed. Society must question or reform its attitudestowards young people and youth culture, recognise the unique challenges that the Classof 2035 will face, and respond compassionately and without prejudice. Policymakersmust abandon their preconceptions about the values and requirements of young people,and instead make a greater effort to build on their directly expressed opinions in theirpolicymaking. ■ Underlying all such policy initiatives must be a renewed focus on convincing policymakersthat the costs of increasing revenue to support young people in sport today will prove anexcellent investment compared to the scale of future health costs. Any notion that futuresport and health policy is anything other than inexorably linked must be combated. Thedebate should not be about what it will cost today to get children more active, but ratherwhat the cost will be if no action is taken. A fundamental paradigm shift in how this debateis currently played out is needed.Policy implications: ■ A longer term approach to policy development is critical. ■ Technology should be at the forefront of future sport engagement strategies. ■ The broad benefits of sport needs to be better recognised within the school curriculum. ■ Invest today for a more active future.WEB LINKThe Class Of 2035: Promoting A Brighter And More Active Future For The Youth OfTomorrowhttp://www.youthsporttrust.org/media/24072132/the_class_of_2035_report.pdfhttp://www.youthsporttrust.org/media/24072132/the_class_of_2035_report.pdf"
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Leadership

The Class Of 2035: Promoting A Brighter And More Active Future For The Youth Of Tomorrow

24 Jun 2015

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      string(5642) "8 PE & Sport Today • Autumn 2005FeaturesSports WorldIt is the end of July andLords is packed full ofspectators, all brimmingwith excitement as theyprepare to watch England takeon the number one team inthe world. The opponents,unbeaten in years, are notAustralia, but China.This incredible possibilitycould become reality in less than20 years if the Chinesegovernment has its way. Chinahas recently joined theInternational Cricket Council(ICC) – cricket’s equivalent toFIFA – and has declared that itwants to be the number oneteam in the world within 20years. This follows an extensivestudy into the game by thecountry’s communistgovernment and its potentialimpact on the world’s mostpopulous nation.The ICC has naturallyjumped at the opportunity totake the sport to a nationwith 1.3 billion potentialDaniel Dalton explores the development ofcricket in China, which wants to be the bestteam in the world within 20 years…The Great Ballsof Chinacustomers. Malcolm Speed,the organisation’s chiefexecutive, believes that Chinacould even be competing inthe 2015 World Cup.RevivalChina’s interest in the gameis only a part of thespectacular revival that thesport is experiencingaround the world. Twenty20cricket has taken the gameto a new audience in testplaying countries. In England,over 17,000 spectatorsrecently watched a gamebetween Warwickshire andWorcestershire, many ofwhom were women andyoung children. The conceptis now being copied aroundthe world with domesticTwenty20 cricket becominga hit and internationalgames being played inAustralia and England. Thereis a genuine hope that thisform of the game will finallyprovide cricket with therazzmatazz and excitementto compete globally withfootball and rugby.Cricket has always struggledto appeal to a global marketbecause outside of the Testplaying countries very fewpeople play or even understandthe sport. Of those who do,many are ex-patriots from theestablished cricket nations. Inorder to develop the gameoutside of the ex-patriotcommunities, it has to bepresented in an understandableway to those who have grownup without any knowledge of it.The recent ICC trophy inIreland doubled up as the WorldCup qualifying competition. Thisallowed Holland, Scotland,Bermuda, Ireland and Canada tojoin Kenya in qualifying as theAssociate, or non test matchplaying competitors, in the WestIndies in 2007. With theexception of Bermuda, cricket isnot a popular sport in any of    SportsWorld9PE & Sport Today • Autumn 2005FeaturesSports Worldthese countries and is onlyplayed by small sections of theirpopulations.The ICC is clearly aware ofthis situation and this is why ithas been active in trying todevelop the sport in nationswhere it could have thepotential to become a verypopular sport. Of the 92members of the ICC, it is theUSA and China that hold themost intriguing possibilities forthe future.Ex-patriotsIt is believed that there arealready up to seven millioncricket fans in the USA, manyof whom are first generationex-patriots from Asian cricketplaying countries. With theUSA also having qualified forthe 2004 Champions Trophy,second only to the WorldCup as a global crickettournament, there isundoubtedly the desire andthe audience for the furtherdevelopment of cricket inNorth America.But it is China’s interest incricket that really excites theICC because it offers theopportunity to develop andmarket the game fromscratch to a people whoknow nothing about it.Because it is virtuallyunknown in China, cricketdoes not suffer from any ofthe negative connotationsthat stop people playing it inthe rest of the world. TheChinese do not view cricketas boring, slow or overlycomplicated. In contrast, theygenerally have no view on itbecause many have neverseen it. Without theseexisting negativeconnotations it is easier todevelop the game as aglamorous, exciting one inwhich people who are goodat it can earn vast fortunes. This combined with thepolitical peculiarities of China’sgovernment provides a uniqueopportunity for thedevelopment of the game.Ordinarily it would be virtuallyimpossible to try to introduce aforeign, complicated andtechnical sport to a people whowere completely ignorant of it.However, the Chinesegovernment has made a habit ofdoing exactly that.The Chinese government ispassionately committed to sportand recognises it as a means ofdeveloping national unity athome and international prestigeabroad.  As an authoritariangovernment it can effectivelyintroduce new sports, developelite sporting programs andmarket these sports in a waythat the population understands.In other words, if the Chinesegovernment decides it is goingto do something in sport, itgenerally succeeds.The Olympic Games are anexample of this. Prior to 1980the Chinese government didn’twant anything to do with theevent. Now the Chinese are themost passionate supporters ofthe Olympic movement in theworld, fervently following all thesports in which their athletesare successful. China finishedsecond in the Athens 2004medal table and even won goldmedals in Swimming andAthletics – sports with no publicfollowing prior to the 1980’s.UnityThe Chinese governmentbelieves that sport is atremendous force for nationalunity and for gaining prestigeinternationally – both vital foran authoritarian government ifit is to remain in power. It is inthis context that the Chinesegovernment studied theeffects of Sri Lanka winningthe 1996 World Cup anddeduced that it was a sportthat was well suited to Asianpeople because it did notrequire any special strength inorder to excel in it. They alsonoticed that it was a"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Sports World

1 Nov 2006