Super Schools initiative set to tackle childhood obesity
Sports students and staff at Hugh Baird College this week officially launched a new initiative called Super Schools.
The project will see students from Fitness and Exercise, Sport and Football Coaching courses at the College liaising with key staff from three local primary schools to devise and deliver sport and fitness sessions to groups of youngsters from ages 5 to 11.
The aim of the initiative is to address the increasing problem of obesity in children by encouraging them to spend more time away from the Xbox and TV and become more active and healthy.
The scheme will also benefit the Hugh Baird College students, adding valuable work experience to their CVs and enhancing future career prospects. It is hoped that, in its first year, the project will engage with close to three hundred school pupils, rising to four hundred in the following year bringing a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school on board.
At the launch of the Super Schools initiative, students and staff from Hugh Baird College were joined by Claire McCormack, Physical Education Co-ordinator at Christ Church Primary School in Bootle, which is due to be the one of the first schools to benefit from the Super Schools project. Claire said:
“We are delighted to be part of the first wave of schools that will be working with the young people of Hugh Baird College in the Super Schools initiative. Christ Church Primary School, we are major advocates of the healthy body, healthy mind ethos and we already provide our learners with a number of sessions that enable them to stay fit while enjoying themselves and developing team working skills. Hugh Baird College’s Super Schools project will perfectly compliment the good work our staff are already undertaking.”
The Super Schools project is the brainchild of Sport tutor Mike Carney and Football Coaching tutor Phil Oliver, who said:
“The principles of the initiative are inclusivity, health and fun and these will be at the heart of everything we’ll be doing. The project has really captured the imagination of our students because not only are they making a difference but, at the same time, they are gaining valuable work experience and employability skills, strengthening their CVs and improving their university applications and job prospects.”
“We have learners who hoping to go on to a range of different careers from sport development, community engagement and teaching, to physiotherapy, football coaching, family fitness instructors and nutritionists. Through the Super Schools initiative, as staff, will be able to ensure our students get experience that mirrors their chosen field of study and future career aspirations.”
Graham King, who is studying on the Diploma in Exercise and Fitness Instruction course at Hugh Baird College, added:
“In the future I want to become a primary school teacher so the Super School initiative will provide me with such amazing real life experience that will prepare me for my future ambitions. I can’t wait to get started!”
Image shows Hugh Baird College students and staff from the Super Schools initiative with pupils and from Christ Church Primary School and their Physical Education Co-ordinator, Claire McCormack.
