Move to inspire the next generation of school athletes
School Sport Matters
Clearing a hurdle: Jessica Ennis (right) watches young athletes as they jump hurdles during the the Aviva Elevating Athletics Fund Launch
Picture: GETTY IMAGES
By Gareth A Davies
5:46PM BST 22 Apr 2010
More than half of the UK’s Physical Education teachers feel they need both further training and better facilities to teach athletics effectively, a new study has revealed.
The study will raise major concerns with the London 2012 Games just over two years away, with a grassroots legacy having been a foundation stone for the Games bid.
The findings have led to the launch on Friday of the Elevating Athletics Fund by Aviva, which pledges to provide practical training and support to every sports teacher in the UK. Hundreds of thousands of children are set to benefit from better athletics tuition in schools.
The move will be spearheaded by Jessica Ennis, the world champion heptathlete, Ed Warner, chairman of UK Athletics, and Olympic gold medallists Darren Campbell and Sally Gunnell.
Campbell said he was not surprised by the results of the survey. “It has been a gripe of mine for a long time that we don’t look on athletics as the basis for almost all sports.
“Learning to run, jump and throw at a young age really is ‘physical education’, and this move is so important because it could be a foundation stone for children.”
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The initiative is a direct response to a study conducted by ICM Research for Aviva, over March and April this year, which revealed that 52 per cent of teachers believe they need further training to teach athletics effectively, with 63 per cent of teachers seeing the need for better facilities.
Elsewhere in the research, two thirds of teachers admitted that, in the build-up to London 2012, there would be more emphasis on athletics in their schools. Nine out of 10 teachers intend to use London 2012 to inspire children to participate in sport, and an overwhelming majority of teachers (93 per cent) see elite sports people playing an important role in inspiring children to get involved in sport
The Elevating Athletics Fund will provide support on three levels, with free places on athletics teaching courses for 30,000 schools in the UK, a detailed curriculum resource pack for all teachers, and the chance for schools to win a £10,000 sports grant for facility upgrades.
Aviva will also arrange a series of elite athlete visits to schools, to help inspire students, with a commitment to giving every child in the UK the opportunity to get involved in athletics by 2012. In other findings, the study highlighted that 58 per cent of all parents would like their child to be taught athletics over all other sports, including football, while 63 per cent of parents believe that PE classes should be treated as seriously as other academic subjects.
Ennis, the world heptathlon champion, insists that her pathway to success began with two PE stalwarts. “We must recognise the important role that PE teachers play in getting children involved, and continuing their interest, in sport. I’m proud to be working with this, which will give teachers the tools they need to teach the basics of athletics in schools and hope that this will help inspire the next generation to develop a passion for athletics.”
Warner, chairman of UKA, partnered with Aviva for more than a decade, said: “With the launch of the Elevating Athletics Fund we hope to reach out to every single PE teacher in the UK to raise standards of teaching athletics in schools. The Government’s commitment to getting two million more people into sport or physical activity by 2012 must begin in schools.”
Schools can find more information about the Elevating Athletics Fund at aviva.co.uk/athletics
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