Introduction

Welcome to the May Newsletter. 

Having spoken to so many of you over the last few weeks, Izzy and I know that you’ve been working flat out to look to deliver as much as you can over the summer term. Thank you for your ongoing commitment and hard work. We are always keen to hear how you’re getting on, so please do keep sharing on social media or give us a call to share and celebrate your achievements with us. We’re also keen to know when it doesn’t quite go to plan. Taking learning from tried and tested is an important part of this network so please share the ‘we can learn from’ as well as celebrating the wins. 

ACTIONS

Girls Active Coaches – Virtual Event Selection 

Thank you for those who have submitted the details of your young coaches. I know some of you have had challenges, so thank you to those who have been in contact to let me know and discuss further. If you have yet to submit your names and have not been in touch, please email [email protected] as soon as possible.  

Feedback from a few leads has been that some young people have been concerned over the thought of a virtual weekend. Rest assured, 12 hours of screen time is certainly not on the cards! With outdoor challenges, family activities, blogs, podcasts and much more. Content will be varied and provide plenty of breaks, downtime without crack of dawn starts. You’ll find a further blurb of information on the Teams channel to help promote the opportunity filling the final few places.  

Leadership & Volunteering Insight Tool

A reminder that the L&V Insight Tool is now available for completion. You’ll find this here. 

New schools can sign up through this link. For those who have completed the tool previously, you’ll need to click to re-do the tool on entry. Previous entries will be stored in the system so these won’t be lost. We have produced some additional resources to help you work with schools across your area to complete this, including a 10 minute video outlining the purpose of the tool and why they should take part. You’ll find this available here. A reminder that we’re looking for eight schools to complete the tool, with six of these schools to have further support to think about how they could engage 10 young people from an identified group in leadership activity which meets their need. Our focus here is engaging in current with tweaking, rather than necessarily new programme activity given the current climate. 

UPDATES

Volunteers Week 1-7 June 2021

With the theme ‘A time to say thanks’ the annual celebration event, National Volunteers Week is taking place from 1-7 June. Insight gathered over the last few month tells us that young people feel they’ve missed out on opportunities to be leaders and volunteers and are now more committed than ever to want to take on the leadership mantle and give back and volunteer their time to things that are important to them. Volunteers Week poses a great opportunity to recognise contributions, celebrate achievements and to capitalise on this momentum. Volunteers Week can also be used to raise awareness of volunteering opportunities available. More information can be found here. 

National School Sport Week 19-25 June 2021

School sports days and competitions were all but cancelled last year amid the global pandemic.  

Now the Youth Sport Trust has announced its annual campaign, National School Sport Week, is back running under the theme of ‘Together Again’. It wants to encourage as many schools, families, and communities to pledge as possible to holding a ‘Together Again’ school sport day between 19-25 June.  

Since young people returned to school, the Youth Sport Trust has been working with other sports organisation to help promote an active recovery – harnessing the power of sport and play to help young people to reconnect and recover. This year, National School Sport Week is partnering with the Together campaign to bring the themes to life for young people through sport.   

Everyone who signs up to National School Sport Week will receive free resources from the Youth Sport Trust, including the ultimate guide to staging an inclusive sports day, top tips on harnessing the power of sport to bring young people together and advice on how to give young people a voice in organising their sports days.  

For more information and to sign up to take part in this summer’s National School Sport Week go to our website. 

Final call to find UK Coaching’s, Coaching Heroes 

UK Coaching is searching to find UK’s Coaching Heroes, coaches who during one of the most challenging periods has used innovative ideas and great coaching to make a difference to people’s mental and physical wellbeing. Nominations are now open until 9am on the 17 May 2021.

UK Coaching is looking for nominations of coaches who have:

• Connected people utilising sport and physical activity, and had a positive impact on people’s wellbeing
• Created an environment where people felt empowered and motivated either to get active or to stay active during the COVID-19 lockdowns
• Made a difference and had an impact on others (e.g. family member, friend, participant).

Click here to find out more. 

PUBLICATIONS

Giving a voice to young people with SEND 

Karen Erikson, Inclusion Lead at The Lakes School in Cumbria, a Youth Sport Trust Lead Inclusion School, discusses the importance of giving a voice to young people with SEND as schools return, read more here.