Planning for the future

As part of the easing to lockdown measures, school teachers will be given the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport and physical activity will be provided while following the measures in their system of controls.

The news has been welcomed by Emma Toone, partnership development manager at the Tameside School Sports Partnership, who now feels there is something to be optimistic about following 12 months of frustration.

Sport and physical activity has been proven to play a massive role in a pupil’s all-round development.

As well as the physical advantages, pupils also see improvements in their mental health and outlook on life - an issue which has come to the fore and has been debated intensely over the past year.

Emma, who has been working in school sport for over 20 years, now feels there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

However, she believes there is a long road ahead before a complete return to normality, as it will take a period of time for pupils to rediscover their sporting and social skills.

Emma said: “We’ve been working as a network across Tameside, Greater Manchester and the country just waiting for this moment to come back.

“In my job I organise a lot of festivals and competitions. We’ve not been allowed to do that as previously, in terms of delivering the event and watching the pupils participate, and I’m not too sure it will come back just yet, as I think we’ll have to ease ourselves into it.

“We need to allow children to retrain and learn the skills.

“During the lockdown there has been a lot of emphasis on fitness with a lot of schools.

“Children need to rebuild those skills which they might have lost, and I’m sure they will.

“Looking at things like the recovery curriculum and so on, teaching children how to socialise again or interact or be healthier, we’ve got a big job to do, but the passion is there from the staff across Tameside.

“We’re in a really good place to enthuse others and I think we will get there as there’s now light at the end of the tunnel.”

As frustrating as the past 12 months have proved to be, the spare time has given Emma the perfect chance to review competitions and plan ahead.

In a bid to keep pupils active, Emma has worked with local partners to launch a number of initiatives for pupils to complete at home, including the hugely successful Dr Ron Hyde 7 Mile challenge - a partnership with the Running Bee Foundation that was completed by more than 3,000 pupils in the summer of 2020 - as well as the recently launched ‘bingo cards’.

Emma explained: “Boris has now put his roadmap forward and it’s exciting for everyone. It’s exciting to think we might have fans watching football in stadiums and, for us, taking part in competitions again.

“Lockdown has been good to look at things and review our competitions and see how they work and what still needs to be supported.

“It’s also given us a chance to look at pupils who might not get that opportunity and how we can engage them as well.

“We’ve also done a lot of virtual competitions which have gone down really well. We’ve been doing something called Bingo Cards and the reaction to that has been great. We’ve supported several clubs and organisations across the borough.

“We’ve developed these cards which children can cross off once they learn a new skill, but it’s actually sport specific skills and not so much the fitness side of things, which I think we’ve been lacking on.

“We did one with the Priory Tennis Club in Stalybridge and Andy Perry, one of the coaches, has created these skills that we’ve then put on the bingo cards and children tick them off as they do them.

“Once they complete the card they win a medal, which I think is something that has been lacking; they’ve missed out on achieving something.

“A few thousands pupils have taken part in it, which is great during a time when we couldn’t really do much else,” she added.

“I’m a massive advocate of PE and school sport. It’s not just about the fitness or skill side of things, but the other benefits that come with it are huge such as leadership and mentality.

“Looking forward, I think if you have a child that is active in the body and mind, that will produce an academically healthy child and one that’s happy to learn.

“I think a lot of children have missed out on the social aspect of things over the past 12 months which sport can bring.”

As the clock ticks towards the Olympic Games, which have been rescheduled for Friday, July 23, Emma feels it’s massively important to capitalise on the event and get children engaged.

She said: “With it being an Olympic year, I think we need to make sure we’re still addressing the needs of children that want to compete, or those who just want to take part.

“We would love every single child in Tameside to have taken part in a festival or competition by the time they leave primary school or secondary school.

“I still remember taking part in competitions in primary school, and I still have certificates and medals from those.

“We don’t always need to be at a competition to win it, sometimes we need to be at a competition to just be there and represent the school.”