Making London 2012 a meaningful experience for all
Why Get Set?
Committed to promoting active, healthy lifestyles and to sustaining a culture of collaboration and team spirit, Liss Infant School (Hampshire, South East) seized the opportunity to get involved with Get Set. It particularly wanted to:
- Make London 2012 celebrations really meaningful for its young pupils
- Inspire children to take part in a wide range of sporting activities.
The Journey So Far
Raising the profile and status of PE and sport has already been important with initiatives such as:
- Developing links with local sports clubs and organisations
- Extending after school provision to include karate and tennis
- Enriching the PE curriculum with specialist basketball lessons and Zumba dance coaching
- Establishing inter-school sports competitions.
A daily whole school outdoor ‘wake and shake’ session has been introduced, combining dance, aerobics and brain gym. National School Sport Week features on the school calendar and this focused week of sporting activities includes the annual school sports day.
With the Values embedded into the PSHE curriculum, children are aiming to achieve ‘Olympic Gold’ awards by collecting evidence for each Value in a special Olympic Passport. London 2012 notice boards are being used to highlight aspects of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and celebrate children’s sporting achievements.
All Olympic and Paralympic Values are embedded within Liss Infant School’s ‘Year of the Olympics: The World Came to My Place Today’. This year long project, focusing on ‘Celebrations’, ‘Let’s be explorers’ and ‘One World’, culminates in an Olympic fortnight complete with a whole school exhibition for parents and the local community. A huge range of activities and areas of learning are included within the project; opportunities have already included meeting both an Olympic and a Paralympic medal winner.
Positive Values
Staff feel that the Olympic and Paralympic Values have provided children with a real and meaningful context in which they can explore and develop their personal and social skills and capabilities.
“Every one of our children has grown in self belief and confidence in themselves as learners.”
And the highlights for children?
Children have been inspired by watching clips of athletes competing at the very highest standard and by meeting real Olympic and Paralympic medal winning athletes.
- “She was awesome”
- “That’s amazing”
Towards 2012
Children will continue demonstrating the Olympic and Paralympic Values by completing their Olympic passport booklets and being actively involved and engaged in sport within the school. All children will have taken part in a series of sporting challenges throughout the year where they compete against themselves to achieve their personal best and to be really proud of their own achievements.
By the start of the Games, Liss Infant School aims for children to have developed a better understanding of world geography and of some key cultural traditions from countries in different parts of the world. It wants every child to look forward to watching London 2012 with a genuine sense of excitement and personal aspiration.
