A national award scheme which aims to develop learning, progress and achievement through sport is being piloted at Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy.
All students in Year 7 are currently taking part in the Youth Sport Award, which is run by the Youth Sport Trust.
Each student is asked to keep a logbook and complete seven hours of physical activity in a week, two hours of learning a new skill and 10 leadership hours.
Once they have completed these tasks successfully they are rewarded with a certificate, pin badge and a t-shirt.
Sarah Callaghan, PE teacher at OIEA, said they had received great feedback about the award from students and parents.
She said: “It’s all about encouraging healthy lifestyles and supporting students to be more active and to make healthy choices. The seven hours of activity a week could be completed in or out of school or it could be walking to and from school. The new skill they have learnt is first aid and they have also spent an hour learning what it takes to be a good leader. In terms of leadership that involves planning and running an event and they have been working with Erewash School Sport Partnership to help run events outside school. The award also helps the students to learn new skills such as teamwork, communication, organisation and leadership.”
As part of the award, students planned, organised and took part in a two-day event at Rutland Sports Park in Ilkeston. The whole of Year 7 split into groups and took part in different activities including football, basketball and badminton. Students were also responsible for running the activities.
Year 7 student Joshua Bollen,11, took part in the event at Rutland Sports Park.
He said: “I like sport and I love football so I’ve really enjoyed taking part in this. It’s helped me to make more friends too.”
The Youth Sport Trust describes the award on its website as “a reward and recognition scheme for young people aged between 7-24 to evidence their learning, progress and achievement through sport. It is a unique award scheme that puts health and wellbeing at the heart of developing young people, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come.”
