Earlier this week,  along with Everton player Morgan Schneiderlin, I visited St Aloysius Catholic Primary School in Huyton to mark the recent launch of Premier League Primary Stars, the Premier League’s new national curriculum-linked education programme.
Premier League Primary Stars uses the appeal of the Premier League and professional football clubs to inspire children to learn, be active and develop important life skills. Â When I spoke to Olivia one of the team delivering the session she said ” it was simply the way the kids faces lit up when they saw their heroes that made the programme worthwhile. Â When they are working out the difference in points between teams or how many goals are needed to win the league the kids don’t even realise they are reading or working out maths problems. Â It’s so inspiring to see.”
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Listening to 27 year old Schneiderlin talk after the event about his time at Manchester United and now his time at Everton, talking about having pride in everything you do and how to push on to ensure you succeed, it was clear to me how valuable these messages are to primary school kids who might not see the value in day to day education.  Stars such as Schneiderlin have that ‘wow factor’ to engage kids in a way their teachers simply can’t (however engaging and amazing they may be!).
I also had the pleasure of watching Schneiderlin join in a Premier League Primary Stars PE session delivered by the incredibly enthusiastic team from Everton in the Community. Â The session involved a game of dodgeball with the group of 10-11 year-olds which also had the amusing additional aspect of seeing which journalist could dodge the ball too!
Whilst he was there, Morgan helped launch the Premier League Primary Stars Kit and Equipment scheme. Teachers can apply for the chance to receive free football strips or equipment for their school by registering for the programme at www.PLPrimaryStars.com. Parents can also nominate their school via the Premier League Primary Stars website!
This year’s application window opens from 24 April – 9 June – don’t miss it!
So what is it all about? Â You can see this fantastic video the premier league have made to explain it here:
There are free downloadable resources for teachers across Key Stages 1 and 2 in English, Maths, PE and PSHE. The easy-to-use materials have been developed in partnership with education organisations including the National Literacy Trust and the PSHE Association.
Countdown TV presenter and mathematician Rachel Riley and children’s authors Cressida Cowell and Dan Freedman also helped to create the teaching resources, which use real life sport examples to put lessons into a relevant engaging context for children.
There’s there’s no such thing as a kid who can’t be excited about reading, they just haven’t found the right book yet. Cressida Cowell
Everton is only one of 88 Premier League, English Football League and National League clubs in England and Wales which provides in-school support through Premier League Primary Stars. This is the Premier League’s most ambitious community programme to date and aims to support 10,000 primary schools by 2019.
If I was you I’d make your kids school one of them! I’ve already registered ours!
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What an exciting opportunity. Even children who aren’t really interested in sport would be able to enjoy all aspects of this initiative.