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Sports News
PE without a stretch Pupils making physical activity part of their school day The long-awaited Healthy Schools Rating has landed, but the question is ‘how and why should schools capitalise on it when budgets and capacity are tight?’ MSP has been working to unlock the power of sport and physical activity for over 20 years and its strategic lead for children and young people, Calum Donnelly said: “The Healthy Schools Rating is a voluntary accreditation, available to schools completing the Active Lives Survey. There’s no pressure to share ratings, but actually, once your school has optimised its results, it can be used as a stamp of approval to demonstrate how you’re meeting, or even exceeding standards to Ofsted, parents and the local community. “Strong evidence of the benefits of physical activity on academic performance and mental wellbeing has come out of numerous reports and studies over the last few years, including
papers from Public Health England; the Centre for Educational Neuroscience, University College London; plus Paluska & Schwenk’s ‘Physical Activity and Mental Health’. So, there’s a growing rationale for schools to play their part in boosting activity levels. “However, with no additional funding on the table, how do schools see improvements? It’s about working smart. “There are a number of existing tools
that can be driven through the PE premium and a range of free-to-access initiatives such as School Games and The Daily Mile™ that organisations like ours can signpost you to. As the Active Partnership for Merseyside it’s our job to help you get the most out of these.” Just one of the schools already wellpositioned to see a great Healthy Schools Rating is Lister Infants in Liverpool. Ashley Haynes, assistant head/PE lead, said: “We are already leveraging The Daily Mile™ initiative. It’s a great way to get all of our children outdoors and active. We find it really helps the concentration levels back in the classroom…and we find they’re producing much higher quality work.” Any school that wants support to maximise what’s already available, whilst minimising impact on workload and budgets is welcome to contact MSP by emailing c.donnelly@merseysidesport.com
Award for school Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School was named ‘Primary School of the Year’ at the Sefton Sports Awards. The award is given to a primary school which has demonstrated extra commitment to sport within the last 12 months through the development of new initiatives or programmes which go above and beyond the usual activity. The children at Our Lady of Lourdes love PE and school sport. The staff believe that physical education should give every child, whatever their ability, an equal opportunity to develop their physical competence to enable them to enjoy physical activity. Through dedicated staff, an engaging curriculum and a plethora of extra-curricular activities, children not only make good progress during lessons, they develop a love for PE. Sam Gallagher, PE subject leader, said: “It is an amazing honour to receive this prestigious award. It is fantastic to receive the recognition that the school deserves for going above and beyond for the pupils. It would not have been possible to receive the reward without two things: the dedication and hard work put in by all staff to create a holistic approach to school sport and the children’s enthusiastic approach”. Headteacher, Maureen Hillsdon, said: “I am so proud of all the staff and pupils for this wonderful achievement”.
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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
Educate Awards sponsor welcomes England’s netball team Following the recent reopening of DMR Manchester, David M Robinson (DMR) was thrilled to host the England Netball team in ‘The Lounge’ ahead of the start of the recent Netball World Cup. Taking place in DMR’s spiritual home of Liverpool, the tournament saw teams from across the world descend on the city, to compete at the M&S Bank Arena. During the visit, each of the team’s twelve players were presented with a TAG Heuer ‘Aquaracer’ timepiece, along with a personalised DMR jewellery case. Inspired by the Roses’ team slogan, each case was individually engraved with the phrase ‘If we are in it, then we are in it to win it’. This latest friendship reaffirms David M Robinson’s commitment to supporting grass roots sports and the involvement of young men and women in these, during its 50th anniversary year. John Robinson, managing director said: “We understand that in sport, timing really is everything. It was this knowledge that inspired our gifts for you all. “Having attended so many games recently with my family, I have seen the way that my own children have been inspired by your skill and dedication, which makes today so special.”