"We are thrilled to be leading this in our area - this project fits in with our ethos about wellbeing and health and it is an opportunity to really make a difference to children and young people."
Lisa Fathers, Director of Alliance for Learning
The Alliance for Learning has been commissioned by Sport England as part of a £13.5m teacher training programme, to help foster a more positive attitude to physical education across the northwest.
The teaching school, which is based at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, will be working with over 50 schools throughout the region, providing specialist training, mentoring and events that will help educational providers tackle the lack of physical health amongst young people.
The focus of this national project is to provide resources and inspirational athlete visits to target the least active pupils in the schools, and has been launched in response to Sport England’s recent survey, which revealed that less than half of school and college students aged 14 and above viewed PE as a positive experience - and that 19% actively ‘disliked’ or ‘hated’ the subject.
Only 8% of girls and 16% of boys at UK secondary schools meet the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity a day*, so the training will work with headteachers, PE departments and senior leadership teams to help them raise the positive profile of PE and sport in school.
The Alliance for Learning is well placed to be appointed to help run the northwest training, because of its close work with the Youth Sport Trust and the Greater Manchester Headteacher's Alliance, which represents headteachers from all 10 boroughs across the region, to strengthen the physical activity of children and young people. Director Lisa Fathers says: “We are thrilled to be leading this in our area - this project fits in with our ethos about wellbeing and health and it is an opportunity to really make a difference to children and young people.”
*According to a Youth Sport Trust survey from 2017
