Sports Development - Press Release

Lads and Dads Initiative and Activity Day

A project aimed at lads and dads is set to culminate on Saturday (4 December) with an activity day at Whitgift School.

The initiative is aimed at year three boys, aged seven and eight, and their dads or male carers, granddads, 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 - Great Coates Primary School, Willows Primary School and  Wybers Wood Junior School.

Kay Snape, North East Lincolnshire Council extended schools and 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 with their dads - rolling, catching, hitting, under-arm throwing and over-arm throwing, 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 Whitgift School.  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. All 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.

Ms Snape 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 will continue 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."

1st December 2004

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