A Multi-skill Academy (MSA) is a key component of a talent development pathway for pupils identified as gifted and talented (G&T) in PE and sport. MSAs apply the principles of multi-skills development, enabling young people to develop a higher level of physical skills, rather than sport specific skills. This will help them to transfer between sports as the talent pool closes and their growth stabilises.
Specifically trained multi-skills coaches or teachers run the academy and focus on developing the pupils’ physical and thinking abilities, whilst challenging their creative, personal and social abilities. See 5 abilities.
The primary purpose of MSAs is to support primary to secondary transition for gifted and talented pupils, providing essential elements of primary to secondary school transition through:
- Selection based on observation through delivery of national curriculum physical education and Multi-skill Clubs.
- The opportunity to develop two core abilities, physical and thinking, at a critical time in the young person’s development.
- Offers of guidance and signposting to opportunities to further realise their talent in sports clubs.
- Support and tracking of gifted and talented pupils through the transition from primary to secondary school.
MSAs are organised as part of an out of school hours learning programme within the school sport partnership and are hosted by the Sports College or the secondary school to which the pupils will be moving. They offer between two and four days of challenging multi-skill activities and coaching, as full or half days or shorter sessions, in a focussed school holiday programme, or over a number of weeks.
Multi-skill Academies form part of a Performance Pathway for Young People alongside Multi-skill Clubs and the Junior Athlete Education Multi- skill Workshops and MSAs can help to bridge the gap to NGB Player Pathways.
Multi-skill Academies are funding by the DCSF as part of the PESSYP gifted and talented programme.
Click here to download the new Multi-skill Academy information and guidance booklet
Click here to download a Multi-skill Academies information sheet