10 Nov #Colchester United’s Football In The Community head into schools
By Matt Hudson
Colchester United’s Football In The Community will be expanding their work with Primary Schools across the local area, after receiving over £200,000 of funding to deliver the Premier League Primary Stars project.
The U’s community coaches already work in over sixty schools a week across the local area and will now be able to deliver additional activities into these schools, as well as working with new schools as part of the Primary Stars scheme.
The programme got underway at the end of October, and the U’s coaches will deliver six different sessions into the schools, with PE Provision, Holiday Provision, Inset Days, Teacher Mentoring, Cardio Active and Football Festivals all on the agenda.
Ben Elmer, who will be coordinating the Primary Stars project said: “This project is very exciting. We haven’t delivered anything with such variety as this before and, with everything being free, this is a fantastic opportunities for schools to access such high quality activities.”
Nick Perchard, Head of Community at the Premier League, added: “Premier League Primary Stars is a new national programme designed to offer primary school children a positive first experience of physical activity as well as providing a holistic offer to increase ambition in subject areas such as maths and English.
“This funding will enable Colchester United to expand their already impressive schools work to inspire even more children locally.”
Here’s what’s schools running the Primary Stars scheme will receive:-
1) PE Provision – Coaches will be in schools from 8am to 12noon. The school shapes the morning they receive, with a choice of timings and sports.
2) Holiday Provision – The FITC team will deliver free sessions in local primary schools between 10am-1pm for two selected days within the school holiday periods. The first 24 children that sign up get to attend for free!
3) Inset Days – School teachers will receive the opportunity to learn from the community coaches, allowing them to complete the Primary Teachers Award, which is delivered jointly by Colchester United FITC and the FA.
4) Teacher Mentoring – This is offered to up skill teachers within the schools the FITC team are working with. The teachers can work alongside our experienced FITC coaches to develop their knowledge when delivering PE.
5) Cardio Active – This is a brand new programme we have only delivered for a year, designed to promote healthy lifestyles/healthy eating to children within the primary schools. The theory based sessions allow them to ask questions and develop their knowledge, then finish their session with some additional activities outside.
6) Festivals – These are open to all schools within Essex. The U’s FITC team will hold four tournaments for Years 5/6, Years 3/4, Years 1/2 and a Girls Festival.
Any schools interested in receiving further details on the programme should contact Ben on 01206 755160 or [email protected].
