School sport and sports leaders news

Highfields Young Ambassador assemblies

The first of our Highfields Young Ambassador assemblies for 2021 was held last Friday with year 10 assembly. The assembly was led by year 11 ambassadors Lucy and Sophie.

The Young Ambassador (YA) programme aims to see young people driving opportunity, engagement and change for other young people using the Olympic and Paralympic movement as a positive catalyst to do so. This is a key element of their contribution to developing young people as leaders in sport.

The YA programme starts at bronze ambassadors with students in years 5 and 6 then and progresses as follows:  Bronze+ Young Ambassadors transition from primary school to years 7 and 8 in secondary school  Silver Young Ambassadors - Year 9  Gold Young Ambassadors - Years 10 and 11  Platinum Young Ambassadors - Years 12 and 13

Sophie and Lucy spoke to year 10s about their role in school this academic year and the upcoming FA Girls National Day of Celebration in March 2022.

On Tuesday, Evie and Oliver led the sixth form assembly as Platinum Ambassadors and Abigail and Louis led the year 9 assembly on Wednesday as Gold Ambassadors.

Voice of Sport

Today we held the second meeting of the Voice of Sport representatives – see next week’s newsletter for a full report.

SSP mini soccer finals

On Tuesday Highfields held the SSP mini soccer finals on the Astro turf. Highfields sports leaders acted as referees – well done to Taylah, Ruby, Henry, Jacob and Jenson from year 9, Leonie in year 10 and Oliver and Henry from year 13.

Our representatives in the small school competition were Lea and South Darley primary schools. The large school competition was held at Darley Dale and they were our representatives.

The girls only event was held at Anthony Gell School on Wednesday with our representatives, Darley Dale, All Saints, Lea and Darley Dale. The whole competition was won by Darley Dale Primary School progressing to the County Championship at Shirebrook Academy.

Girls Active Awards 2021

The virtual awards ceremony took place on Wednesday for the annual Girls Active Awards 2021. Year 13 student, Hettie, was shortlisted for the resilience award for her sports leader work throughout the Covid pandemic.

The Girls Active and YST Young Changemaker Awards 2021 celebrate shortlisted young people and winners who have taken part in the Girls Active programme, as well as a number of young people who have been involved with the Youth Sport Trust and Youth Sport Trust International over the past year.

Young Changemakers were recognised along with the importance of physical activity, physical education and sport for all young people.

The awards were hosted by Jenna Downing and Kate Grey:

Jenna Downing is a former World Champion Inline Skater, an X-Games silver medallist and a 10 x British Champion. Jenna is an Ambassador and Judge for the Girls Active programme and also runs an awardwinning coaching company, Wheels Extreme.

"Programmes such as Girls Active are so important in inspiring girls to lead healthier, active lives, and by introducing the Girls Active and YST Awards this gives young people a sense of accomplishment and pride for everything they have achieved and continue to achieve in their schools. The more we can increase the visibility of girls and women participating in sport and physical activity the more we can inspire the next generation of girls to get involved and maintain an interest in being active.”

Kate Grey is a former Paralympic swimmer, World championship medallist, Athlete Mentor and Broadcaster.

“I have been lucky enough to work on the Girls Active programmes for many years and feel incredibly passionate about providing girls with the skills and confidence to follow their dreams and reach their full potential through the power of sport and physical activity. The YST awards are a brilliant celebration of outstanding young people being recognised for their achievements in their schools and communities. I always feel uplifted and inspired hearing their stories and journeys!!”

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges within education for schools, teachers, pupils and parents. Despite the known benefits of physical activity on mental and physical health for young people, throughout the UK, children and young people reported being less active during periods of lockdown. However, during this time, through our programmes, many young people have shown exceptional commitment to develop skills in planning, leadership, marketing and event management, which they have used to create and run social action projects on issues they care about. The young people recognised through these awards this year have all shown huge passion, creativity and resilience to lead change, not just for themselves but for others around them.

The 2021 awards categories:

o Girls Active Innovative Project Award o Girls Active Personal Growth Award o Girls Active Resilient Leader Award o Best Girls Active GLAMS/Group Award o YST Character & Leadership Award o YST Inclusion Award o YST Physical & Mental Health Award o YST International Development Award o YST National School Sport Week Award

Hettie was shortlisted for the resilience award.

She wasn't the overall winner but was highly delighted to have been shortlisted.

Well School Programme

The Youth Sport Trust launched a podcast series this week inspiring others to get involved in Well Schools.

Well Schools Series Episode 1 - Holy Family Catholic Primary School in Surrey https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-well-schoolspodcast/id1460804541