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Showing posts from November, 2017

Staying active – what makes the difference?

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For My Welsh Sport_The Conversation, a range of experts share their thoughts on the future of sport in Wales. Today sees Dr Margaret Whitehead discuss the role of physical literacy in ensuring everyone flourishes.   What does physical literacy actually mean? Widely used in the sport sector, it goes beyond skill development. Its goal is for everyone to take responsibility for being active and that also means finding the motivation and confidence to take part in physical activities. Skills are mainly developed as a result of well-chosen physical challenges. Motivation and confidence, on the other hand, depend on how a teacher, coach or instructor relates to an individual as a person. To successfully unlock motivation and confidence, individuals need to feel valued and be helped on their personal journey of improvement.  In short, physical literacy can be described as: the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility

Can schools work harder so that everyone’s a winner?

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For My Welsh Sport_The Conversation, a range of experts share their thoughts on the future of sport in Wales. Today Owen Hathaway from the National Education Union argues that re-thinking school buildings could spark new opportunities.  A common theme we see across all high performing schools is that they inevitably have community support. Where schools are truly seen as the centre of their societies, where parents and teachers work in collaboration, and where a child’s development is seen as something which extends beyond the school timetable, attainment and well-being is maximised. One way in which the education sector can ensure better relationships are built between schools and communities is to establish our institutions as a community resource. A school building as an incubator for academic curiosity by day, and a house of extra-curricular exploration outside of those hours. Too often over recent years the consequences, unintentional or otherwise, of Welsh Governme

Developing the future of sport in Wales

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For My Welsh Sport_The Conversation, a range of experts share their thoughts on the future of sport in Wales. Today - World Children’s Day - sees Children’s Commissioner Sally Holland outline how a ‘Children’s Rights’ approach could make the difference for sport. Did you know that every time a child or young person engages in sport they are taking up one of the unique human rights that they are entitled to under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): The right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts ?  Many of you reading this will already be acutely aware that a positive experience of sport has a range of benefits including better physical and mental health, enhancing wellbeing and developing important social skills like confidence, motivation, leadership and team work. This would make several more rights a real