3rd August 2007
All eyes will be on Crystal Palace this Friday for one of the biggest athletics events of the year – the Norwich Union London Grand Prix.
Some of the word’s top track and field athletes will be hoping to put on a performance in front of a packed house and maybe inspire a few stars of the future.
The Youth Sport Trust, through its work on the Junior Athlete Education Programme (JAE), is also working hard to support the nation’s talented young sports people as they look to the future – whether that be in their sport, education or career.
JAE is a talent support programme for school sport partnerships and sports colleges to help their promising athletes manage and balance both school and sport demands. It includes practitioner training, Gifted and Talented (G&T) mentor training and lifestyle workshops.
And a recent independent report has revealed wide-ranging positive impacts for the schools and individuals involved in the programme.
The research clearly showed that the JAE programme increased understanding by school, parents and coaches of the unique pressures that our talented young athletes are facing.
When schools were asked to indicate the perceived impacts their G&T pupils have experienced from involvement in the JAE programme, 93 per cent of respondents reported that their pupils now have confidence to take action to deal with conflicting sport and schooling demands.
The report has also found that the impact of JAE extends beyond the PE department. Improved attitudes in other areas of the school, increased academic attainment and improved school attendance by gifted and talented pupils have been reported by schools involved in the programme.
The report clearly identifies that schools are recognising the JAE programme as a useful additional tool in addressing national agendas such as Every Child Matters, the 5-Year Strategic Plan and personalised learning.
Guin Batten, Head of Performance at the Youth Sport Trust, said: “The demands on young G&T pupils are such that they need to develop strong lifestyle skills to cope with their everyday pressures, of studying, training and competing. At the Youth Sport Trust we are delighted that JAE is helping these pupils in other parts of their school life as we know the positive benefits it can have. The skills for success are transferable to all parts of a young person’s world.”
A broad range of implementation strategies are being used by schools to be innovative and flexible, improving their support to gifted and talented pupils.
The Youth Sport Trust is responsible for training personnel from the network to deliver JAE workshops and mentoring. From 2003 to May 2007, 876 individuals have undergone workshop training and 1,176 people are now trained JAE G&T mentors.
For further information on support for G&T click here
Elsewhere, the Youth Sport Trust is working in partnership with the sponsor’s of the London Grand Prix, Norwich Union, and Dame Kelly Holmes on the Norwich Union GirlsActive initiative, the aim of which is to inspire and motivate more girls into taking up sport and exercise.
Click here to find out more about GirlsActive.