Yesterday I joined Sir Chris Hoy and Jonathan Edwards at Eltham Green Specialist Sports College to see Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week in action. I got to see hundreds of primary and secondary school children having loads of fun taking part in different sports.
Eltham Green's sports leaders ran a full and varied programme of sports for their own students and local primary school pupils to try out – some of them for the first time ever.
They ran sessions including cheerleading, sack races, taekwondo and tug of war for the younger students, while others were trying tennis, badminton, handball and more! The sun came out and everyone had a lot of fun – it was brilliant to see first-hand how London 2012 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games really are inspiring young people.
Eltham Green is just one of nearly 14,000 schools across England and Wales that registered for Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week – that means around five million children and young people will be taking part in sports activities linked to London 2012 and the Olympic and Paralympic Values this week alone!
I spoke to Sakar, a Platinum Young Ambassador who told me all about his role and how he feels about Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week and London 2012: 'It's been great to see so many really young students having fun and trying new sports today.
'Schools have so many different sports on offer now, and that's a really good thing. I think having stars like Sir Chris Hoy and Jonathan Edwards come in is really inspiring for them – they're inspiring role models. In 2012, I'll be 18 and I won't be a Young Ambassador anymore – but I do want to play a role in the Games. Maybe as a volunteer.'
Eltham Green also used the theme of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and sport throughout lessons across the whole school.
For example, we saw English students using film clips of Mohammed Ali to talk about the language used in a fight scene in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, another class reading a poem about the emotions of an sportsperson just before a game, and a Year 9 ICT class creating posters to promote the Paralympic Games.
It was incredibly motivating to see teachers being so creative within their subjects and really bringing the Games to life in a whole range of ways for students.
The entire event reminded me of how powerful the Games can be in schools and for young people. I can't wait to hear how other schools have been taking part in Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week, and of course, to reward them with some truly unique experiences through the Get Set network!
I attended the day at Eltham in my capacity as the school's relationship manager for Education in Lloyds TSB. I believe the day was a resounding success and the involvement of Sir Chris Hoy, Jonathan Edwards and Hugh Robertson added significant value to the event. I'm not sure who was more excited, the children or their teachers. Everyone engaged themselves and the activities allowed everone to be involved including the Minister of Sport in a tug of war. The day was a great example of our continued support for London 2012 and young people through our National School Sport Week sponsorship.