This School Girl For one reason or another, girls falling away from participation sport when they enter their pre-teen and teenage years is commonplace.
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port is a huge occupation in many of our lives, and like many, if we drop it from our routine, it can impact our occupational balance or wellbeing. Dropping sport in particular can have multiple lasting effects on both our mental and physical state. Even just dropping the social aspect of sport can be massively detrimental to young girls when they reach that impressionable and important period in their development. Occupational therapy can help this, though. Girls at Harlow’s Passmores Academy have completed a 20week programme designed to promote the benefits of an active lifestyle and encourage more involvement. The programme ThisSchoolGirlCan, inspired by Sport England’s successful ThisGirlCan campaign, was funded through Active Essex’s Satellite Club, Fit4Life and backed by TV doctor Zoe Williams and delivered by Sport For Confidence. Teachers at the school encouraged 13 and 14-year-old girls to attend the weekly, hour long, after school sessions over the 20-week course running parallel to term-time. Sessions were delivered by Sport For Confidence alongside the PE department to offer practical and discursive sessions, exploring the benefits of keeping active and the knock on effects it has on teenage girls’ and young women’s lives. Sport for Confidence OT Sinead Kelly said: “As girls enter their teenage years, many stop being active. The programme explores the reasons behind this and gets the girls thinking about the benefits of maintaining an active lifestyle, whilst also enabling them to practically try a range of activities including; swimming, climbing, yoga, dance, dodgeball,
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badminton, boccia, curling and basketball. The sessions were interactive and fully inclusive. Focus was on fun and enjoyment rather than performance and competition.” The first eight weeks of the programme was hosted by the school, before the remaining sessions took place at various local leisure facilities. PE teacher Sophie Banks discussed how well thought out the programme was and how beneficial it has been: “Taking the girls off site, out of the school environment, to enjoy sporting activities took some organising but was hugely beneficial. Many young people’s only experience of sport is via the education system. Showcasing alternative environments provides new perspectives. Physical activity engagement can’t be achieved via a onesize-fits-all approach. It’s about providing information, education and opportunity to promote the many opportunities on offer.” This was the first programme of its kind to be run in Harlow and followed a successful model completed at Lower