UK Edition
A workforce of almost 500 of the most experienced school sport leaders in the country have been deployed to provide daily online and digital activities to help ensure children remain active during the coronavirus crisis.
With schools shutting to most children from Monday, the Government has backed Sport England, the Youth Sports Trust and the School Games Organisers in providing and promoting a weekly programme of activities.
These will include fitness and personal challenges, online contests, problem solving games and activities which support physical competence, and mindfulness.
It follows concerns that were raised earlier this week in The Telegraph at the potential impact on children’s physical and mental health of shutting down organised sports and closing schools to much of the population. The activities will also respond to the needs of those schools still providing care to pupils, as well as parents and children, in a national attempt to reduce sedentary behaviour and boredom, and instead foster daily exercise habits and a positive use of technology.
"We all know how important physical activity is for our physical and mental health," said culture secretary Oliver Dowden. “A week into self-isolating myself, it's been brilliant to see organisations and sports stars come forward with fun and innovative ways to keep us active at home.”
The chief medical officer recommends that children are active for an average of 60 minutes every day and, with inactivity among young people already a huge concern, school sports leaders want to ensure that this problem is not compounded by the current public health emergency.
“There are two key priorities for our charity and the sport sector during this pandemic,” said Ali Oliver, the chief executive of the Youth Sports Trust. “One, we must ensure physical literacy, physical fitness and mental health is maintained at a time when children’s lifestyles could easily become more sedentary. Two, we need to use this moment in history to promote healthier lifestyle habits and the positive and productive uses of technology.
“I am sure I speak for many when I say the anxiety and uncertainty that this pandemic is causing young people is deeply upsetting and concerning for their future health. We hope these weekly activity programmes will help make being in the home a more pleasant and positive experience for everybody.”
Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s chief executive, added: “Helping our children stay active is going to be more important than ever – for everyone’s physical and mental health. We’d encourage parents to build activity into their own routines too, because research shows they are great role models - active parents are more likely to have active children.”
Sport England will also be launching a new nationwide campaign next week that will ask people of all ages to share ideas to stay active under the hashtag #StayInWorkOut.
The new weekly programme and resources for schoolchildren will be made available on: www.yourschoolgames.com