Sports Development - Press Release

'Lads & Dads' Initiative and Activity Day

A project aimed at "lads and dads" is set to culminate this Saturday (June 26) with an activity day hosted by Tollbar Business and Enterprise College.

The initiative is aimed at year three boys, aged seven and eight, and their dads or male carers, grandads, uncles or  step-dads.

The project combines sports activities with reading and has been running successfully throughout this term.

The scheme is funded by the Standards Fund and through a grant from the Heartwell Community Awards. This has allowed three schools to take part: Eastfield Primary School, The Leas Junior School and New Waltham Primary School.

Kay Snape, North East Lincolnshire Council study support co-ordinator, has been looking at various ways of involving men in their children's education and the problems linked with boys' under-achievement.

At age seven, assessments already show clear performance gaps between boys and girls. Boys are less likely to read for pleasure than girls and, in this increasingly technologically driven world, today's children have poor co-ordination, which affects their ability to write correctly.

Each week, for five weeks, the boys involved have been taking home a different sports bag containing pieces of sporting equipment to practice a skill (rolling, catching, hitting, under-arm throwing and over-arm throwing) with their dads, as well as a book and activity sheet. The dads have been working each evening with their boys. 

The programme culminates with the activities on Saturday at Tollbar Business and Enterprise College.

The event involves a friendly and fun competition made up of five physical challenges based on the basic skills practiced in the previous five weeks, interspersed by fun literacy activities. Each lad and dad will work as a team and the winning team will be presented with a trophy. Each lad and dad will receive a certificate for taking part.

The project is a partnership between North East Lincolnshire Council's study support team, the sports development unit, the school libraries department and the school sport co-ordinator programme. 

Kay said: "Working in partnership has meant we have been able to share expertise and resources. Evaluation of the project has been so encouraging that we have begun to roll the programme out to all primary and junior schools in North East Lincolnshire."

Geoff Hill, executive director for learning and child care, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for having fun, working as a team and most importantly, getting dads involved with their children's education."

24 June 2004

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