Latest News
25 March - Nick Clegg MP visits Somerset County Cricket Club. The
PfS centre was visited by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg MP, as part of his tour around the Club to witness first hand the redevelopments that have recently transformed the grounds.
25 March - Double Club NfER Report Published. The report has been circulated to
all 30 Double Club projects. The DCSF commissioned the National Foundation of
Educational Research to undertake an evaluation of Double Club. The evaluation
concludes that, ‘overall, the DC has been a positive programme because, to date,
it has been successful in achieving many of its aims’. A copy of the full report
summary can be found under the ‘Beyond PfS’ section of the website.
22 Mar – Fit4Reading & Fit4Figures in Stockport. The Fit 4 Reading and
Numeracy schemes are run by Stockport LA with secondary schools in the area. The
projects see Year 10 pupils trained as coaches to enable them to help Year 7
pupils with their reading or numeracy. The sessions are combined with a sporting
element and the PfS centre has been part of the programme, offering sessions for
the coaches and the Year 7 students at the centre. For more information you can
visit the Literacy Trust website by clicking on the link, where you can
also see a video of the project.
link to video
19 March – Playing for Success Charity Rowathon. Bath Rugby Club PfS Centre will be the host for the event that aims to raise money for Sports Relief, but there will be live video links to a number of other centres who will be covering the event using their ‘Supporter 2 Reporter’ media skills. The event is a team relay, teams will consist of four people and will race against other centres.
11 March - BBC News School Report. Around the county young people have
been researching news stories, and putting together reports on topics that
concern them. Using research, planning, communication, and presentation skills,
the reports produced are of an exceptionally high standard and topics covered
have included climate change, the Iraq war and for one of our PfS
centres, the England Rugby team.
Bath Rugby Education Centre (REC) sent four reporters to a training session with
the England Rugby squad, where the reporters had an opportunity to watch the
players train, attend the press conference with all the other journalists and
interview Martin Johnson, the manager. To see the full reports from Bath REC go
to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/8562891.stm and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/8562992.stm
London Marathon Playing for Success centre also took part and based their
project on the subject of Ethical Fashion, their film can be seen at:
http://www.glcuk.org/bbc_morpeth_pfs.htm
Leyton Orient FC also took part, and a comprehensive list of all the schools and
centres involved can be found at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/8321170.stm
Belgium joins Playing for Success. CST is a non-profit organisation in
Belgium that promotes the use of computer and multimedia tools at school and
home. It is an educational consultancy group that works closely with the
Minister, and Ministry of Education in Belgium. Dr.Sonja De Nollin from the CST
group said “PfS Belgium wants to be an initiative across the border to
improve pupils’ performance in language, maths and ICT. It’s about children who
perform under-average. PfS contributes structurally to remediate their
learning delays and to improve their self-esteem and self-image. The
intervention helps children to advance in all areas of development. Early
intervention is critical to a child to develop good self-esteem. Without early
intervention a child’s self-image may suffer and they may avoid school. PfS
will guide these children on a challenging and inspiring place outside of
school, where they’ll be able to gain more positive experiences in learning e.g.
sport stadium, theatre, music, ICT by mobile, Nintendo or other innovative
technology…”
Beyond Playing for Success - Performing for Success: linking the arts to
literacy and numeracy. The evaluation report is now available and copies can be
obtained from the PfS/RHA office. The findings of the evaluation report
demonstrate the power of cross-sector partnerships in developing new and
innovative learning opportunities for young people, with positive outcomes for
all. The evaluation reports on ‘an enthusiasm and interest for arts and cultural
activity that was hitherto unexplored and was, to quote one partner ‘unleashed’.
Thanks to Elizabeth Lynch and David Holloway for all their work developing the
projects, and partnerships and the Ideas Foundation for producing the
evaluation.
click here for report
Education Bradford rated as amongst the most improved LA in the country. Improvements in standards for pupils aged 7 and 11 have been demonstrated, with many more reaching the expected levels in literacy and numeracy in the past four years. A spokesperson for Education Bradford said this was in response to a number of support measures that had been put in place over the last few years, and mentioned
Playing for Success at the Bradford Bulls and Keighley Cougars as being integral to the improvements in standards.
5 March 2010
World Maths Day was successfully launched at Wembley PfS Centre on the 3 March. Pupils visited the centre to take part in ‘Mathletics’ activities as part of an international launch event involving 235 countries, 11,456 cities and towns, and 56,082 schools. 1,133,246 students participated with an astounding 479,732,613 questions answered correctly, going to show that we have some budding mathematicians out there. Well done to everyone who took part and huge thanks to Wembley
PfS for hosting the event.
Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) awarded the London 2012 Education Logo for their Education Centre. Pupils and teachers are celebrating the official welcome in to London 2012’s Get Set network, in recognition of their commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Values. The
PfS programme has linked to the Pass it On competition, and students have been writing stories and blogs covering events linked to sport. Other projects include Healthy Lifestyles activities and Citizenship. Lord Coe, chairman of LOCOG said “When London won the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we made a clear promise to use the power of the 2012 games to inspire young people. I am proud to welcome Leyton Orient Education Centre into the Get Set network for their exciting work around the Olympic Values of friendship, excellence and respect and the Paralympic Values of inspiration, courage, determination and equality”. 22 February 2010.
DCSF Extended Services Conference at the Royal
Horticultural Society in London. Rex Hall was one of the speakers at this
event, supported by members of the RHA Team. (9 February 2010)
Associate Centre Conference at the Sno!Zone in Castleford.
This provided an opportunity to see how the PfS model has evolved and
offered help and guidance for those considering the establishment of an
Associate Centre in partnership with Playing for Success. Full guidance
notes for setting up an Associate Centre can be found in the ‘Beyond PfS’
section of this PfS website.
(5 February 2010)
PfS Supports NQT. Bolton PfS has
successfully supported a member of staff through their probationary year. The
Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has been satisfied that the
centre provides a suitable setting for induction and enables the Newly Qualified
Teacher to meet the core standards. (January 2010)
Olympic Chief Tells Wythenshawe Children to Get Set for 2012!
Over 40 children have been showcasing some of the inspirational Olympic
activities featured at the GreenZone PfS Centre in Wythenshawe,
Manchester. Jeremy Beeton, the Director General of the Government Olympic
Executive, described the centre as “exemplary”. He then said that the pupils
were already benefiting from what the PfS initiative was doing and during
a question and answer session with the young people he urged them to “rise to
the occasion”, adding that “if I could find a way of replicating the initiative
throughout the whole country and get hundreds of thousands of people interested
in sport, interested in culture, interested in learning, trying to improve, then
why not? That’s a great challenge… set yourself some goals, just go and do it!”
The Centre Manager, Andy Jordan looks forward to the event having a lasting
impact as it directly supports the range of learning opportunities provided by
the centre. (28 January 2010)
A
group of 16 delegates from the Netherlands visit London. 21 and 22 January
2010 saw colleagues already involved and intending to become involved in PfS
visit a number of London centres to gather ideas and inspiration for the further
expansion of PfS Netherlands. With four centres already open and more
committed to opening in the near future, the Dutch government’s commitment to
PfS is facilitating a rapid expansion of PfS in the Netherlands.
Whilst in London the group visited the PfS centres at Arsenal FC, West
Ham United FC and Charlton Athletic FC. Delegates had the opportunity to view
the development of the Olympic site from the 23rd floor viewing
point.
Norfolk Playing for Success celebrates 10 years of PfS. As
part of the 2009 celebrations of a decade of PfS in Norfolk, the team has
produced a film which reflects upon the development of PfS across the
county and explores the potential for future developments and sustainability.
Phil Beadle teaches the use of the comma and colon using
football skills as a motivator. A group of Croydon youngsters were up bright
and early for a training session at Crystal Palace FC’s training ground on 14
December 2009. The youngsters were put through their paces as Phil
demonstrated the differences between using a comma and colon, full stop and
speech marks. As part of this event Phil has written and published a supporting
document which is available upon request from the RHA office.
Nottingham
celebrates 10 years of PfS. In December 1999 HRH the Duke of
Edinburgh officially opened Nottingham Forest FC’s PfS centre. In the ten
years that have followed, the centre has worked with over 8,000 students from 80
schools across the City of Nottingham. In December 2009 as part of the ten year
celebrations PfS provided ten mascots for the match against Preston North
End FC. The Preston North End Learning and Community Centre also provided ten
mascots to escort their team onto the pitch.
HRH
Duke of Kent visits MK Dons FC’s PfS centre. The Duke, who is 24th
in line to the throne, was pleased to meet PfS Champions from Langland
Combined School in Milton Keynes who were enjoying a World Cup themed session in
the Dons’ state-of-the-art study centre. His Royal Highness joined in with an
interactive quiz demonstrating his knowledge of football as ex-President of the
Football Association. Following the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the
royal visit the pupils presented His Royal Highness with a personalised Dons’
shirt emblazoned with ‘The Duke of Kent’. The royal party was treated to a
demonstration from the Dons’ ‘Alive & Kicking’ programme which saw the trust
working in partnership with BT and the Football Foundation on a
cross-generational project to encourage Over 55’s in the city to get active and
‘tuned into’ digital technology. (November 2009)
Birmingham
City FC’s BlueZone Learning Centre’s Art Workshop. On 25 November 2009 a
group of PfS secondary pupils took part in an arts workshop day at the
The Public in West Bromwich to work with Colin Yates on a range of football
themed art activities linking into his ‘Black Looks’ exhibition which is
currently on show there.
Sir
Robert Balchin visits Crystal Palace FC’s PfS centre. Following
a visit to the centre in October 2009 Sir Robert Balchin sent a letter of thanks
to the centre saying, “I was hugely impressed and Susan deserves so many
congratulations for the amazing responses that she and her teachers enticed from
the young boys present. It was marvellous to see. All credit to Rex for his
foresight and drive in getting so many similar centres together. Thank you all
so much for an enjoyable and instructive afternoon.”
Lord
Sebastian Coe meets youngsters at Somerset County Cricket Club’s ground.
Lord Coe was visiting the ground which is likely to be a potential Olympic
training venue and whilst there he joined in the PfS ‘Fitness Challenge’,
giving the youngsters the benefit of his experience in developing a running
technique. (September 2009)
The
‘Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Involvement in Rugby League project is a new
project by the Rugby Football League (RFL). Pupils at Huddersfield Giants
RLFC’s PfS centre had the chance to be part of this exciting project,
interviewing and filming Huddersfield Giants players and staff past and present
from BME backgrounds. The sessions feature in the RFL newsletter and a booklet
was produced for pupils to work from, copies of which can be obtained from the
centre by request. (May 2009)
HM
The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh officially open the Leigh Centurions
Learning Zone. In May 2009, as the PfS National Conference was in
full swing, Her Majesty and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, toured the PfS
centre facilities and spent time talking to the children about their activities.