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Physical education (PE) teachers and sports curriculum leads across the UK are being invited to sign up to free online training on 11 October, to discover how interactive technology and real-world stories can be used to enhance PE lessons and teach young people vital skills.
Created in partnership with immersive learning platform, Lyfta, and national children’s charity, the Youth Sport Trust, the event will share ready-made lesson plans and approaches to help teachers engage students with key values through sport, such as resilience, inclusivity and teamwork.
During the webinar, teachers will discover top tips for re-engaging all children with PE this new academic year. With 73 per cent of children returning to school with low levels of physical fitness, and the pandemic having a devastating impact on mental wellbeing, a key aspect of the teacher training will explore the connections between physical activity, healthy lifestyles and emotional wellbeing.
Linked to the national curriculum and UN Sustainable Development Goals, the free session will uncover how stories of young people from across the world can be used by educators to explore a diverse range of topics from PE to relationships and sex education (RSE). Through interactive video and documentary content, teachers will gain insight into:
- How PE can be connected to RSE lessons to help children understand how physical and emotional health complement and impact one another
- How real experiences of young people playing football around the world, from Brazil to China, can be used to demonstrate how sport helps young people cope with success and failure
- How story-based lessons relating to gender stereotypes in sport, from female weightlifters to male ballet dancers, can spark discussion around inclusivity and empathy
The resources have been developed to convey the benefits of sports for all children, helping to tackle the barriers preventing girls, students from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) from engaging with PE.
This follows new research from the Youth Sport Trust which finds just 39 per cent of girls say they enjoy PE lessons compared to 49 per cent of boys, citing reasons such as not being “good at exercise” or not being “competitive” enough.
The ready-made lesson plans further help to ease the strain on teachers’ already overstretched workloads.
Neil Dawson, Head of PE at Wilson Stuart School, said: “Through sparking conversation and being able to navigate the story worlds, our pupils have demonstrated increased appetite to try new activities and sports in their Physical Development time and PE lessons along with wider wellbeing outcomes such as the importance of hydration, sleep and cleanliness as part of their preparing for Adulthood Curriculum.”
Serdar Ferit, co-founder at Lyfta, said: “We are thrilled to be continuing our long-standing partnership with the Youth Sport Trust and launching this free online training event for PE teachers and sports curriculum leads. PE is an incredibly valuable part of the curriculum for many reasons beyond just keeping fit and active. Through sports, children can learn about important life skills such as confidence, leadership, mental wellbeing and gender equality. We create immersive stories so that all students have the opportunity to access, explore and engage with sports, regardless of special educational needs or disabilities. This webinar will help teachers to leverage PE as a powerful educational tool when linked with wider RSE curriculum subjects.”
Vicci Wells, National Manager – Targeted Interventions at the Youth Sport Trust said: “We are really excited to be partnering with Lyfta to offer free training to PE teachers and sports curriculum leads and exploring the role that interactive technology can play in teaching young people key life lessons through sport.
“Our new research shows that a growing proportion of young people agree that they would like to use more technology as part of PE lessons, with 45 per cent agreeing compared with 37 per cent in 2014, and so we are looking forward to supporting more schools to embrace Lyfta’s immersive learning platform.”
For more information and to sign-up for the free Lyfta and Youth Sport Trust event, please visit: www.lyfta.com/youth-sport-trust
