Ask a small person who they want to be like when they grow up and you will often hear footballers or Youtube sensations mentioned. Our young people look to these celebrities as role models, they watch how they behave and they want to be the same. Therefore when these well-known names and faces get involved in educational programmes it encourages children to take an interest too.
The Premier League recognised the influence their players have and they started a campaign to use those players in a positive way in the classroom. Premier League Primary Stars was launched in March 2017 and has already engaged more than 10,000 primary schools in England and Wales. Primary Stars are supporting schools in a number of ways. They have created engaging resources that teachers can use in the classroom. These resources use Maths, Literacy, and PE to get children excited about learning. It helps them develop the right characteristics you want in the classroom environment.
Schools can apply for free football kits too. The purpose is that the Premier League value Education and want to also make it fun. My daughter’s school has received these kits and I asked the school what they thought of it. They explained that having the kit gives the team an identity and helps promotes the ethos they want to develop.
As a school governor and mum, I am always looking for ways to support my local school and also to promote a love of learning in my children. Erin is a very bright girl and enjoys taking a degree of responsibility for her own learning. She is currently involved in a flipped learning project and this encourages her to do more work at home. It also allows her to choose how she presents her work. It brings creativity back into the curriculum.
Therefore I was pleased to see that they have also announced a poetry competition in a bid to get children writing. Poetry can take so many forms and does not have to rhyme. Premier League Writing Stars is backed by names from the worlds of football and literature. The campaign is open to all primary schools in England and Wales and aims to get young people writing poetry in different creative forms. The competition was inspired by the William Hickson poem ‘Try, Try Again’. The competition asks school children to write about the theme of resilience; what does it mean to you to try and try again? Entries can be any form of poetic writing including a rap or lyrics. Teachers and parents can register or nominate their child’s school to take part in PLPrimaryStars.com. All entries are submitted via schools and teachers and parents should visit www.plprimarystars.com to register or nominate their schools to take part. Competition closes on 22 December.
I have written before about growth mindsets and how teachers are working really hard to teach children to be resilient. By writing a poem they will be showing that they understand it is ok to get things wrong and that this is where the learning takes place. Growth mindsets and resilience teach children to be ambitious and never give up on their goals. What better people to advocate this than their favourite footballers.
Keep up with work the Premier League do on the site Premier League primary Stars.
