Primary schools

Active Wrexham supports primary schools through the delivery of fun and engaging provisions that are underpinned by physical literacy.

By creating inclusive opportunities, we look to open doors to new and different positive experiences of sports or physical activities to ensure all pupils in Wrexham are active and healthy.

As part of work to develop the fundamental skills, we are supporting schools with the implementation of the Real PE Platform from Create Development.

The platform enables primary schools to transform PE experiences for every child, teacher and family.

It provides fun and simple-to-follow primary PE schemes of work, with lesson plans and support for practitioners to give them the confidence and skills to deliver outstanding PE.

Secondary schools

As part of our work to help secondary school pupils in Wrexham live happy and healthy lives, we look to promote the key role that physical activity plays in wellbeing – both physical and mental.

We work closely with schools to deliver targeted provisions to pupils who face barriers to participation, as well as looking to inspire all pupils to engage in regular activities.

We work closely with internal and external partners to identify individuals and groups within the secondary sector and provide quality and engaging provisions that aim to get all pupils ‘hooked on sport’.

We have a wide range of activities and opportunities available as we look to increase participation and the enjoyment of physical activities at school, while opening doors to the opportunities available in the wider communities of Wrexham.

If you would like information on opportunities available at your child’s school, please contact us.

Email: activewrexham@wrexham.gov.uk.

The clock is ticking. We want every child to be happy, healthy and confident, both now and in their future.

But without the right skills, confidence and motivation to be physically active, the chances of this are far less likely.

That’s why we want every child to be physically literate – it’s as important to a young person’s future as reading and writing.

It means that a child will take part in sport and physical activity throughout life, allowing them to stay healthy, but also providing lots of other benefits and opportunities.

To help our children become physically literate, we all need to act now. Each and everyone one of us has a part to play in helping a child discover what they can do, before they give up. 

What is physical literacy?

Physical literacy means that a person has a catalogue of technical skills along with the confidence and motivation to take part in lots of different sports and physical activities at every stage in their life.

It gives them the power to choose to be physically active in whatever way they prefer, taking away fears of ‘having a go’ or lack of motivation that many of us can suffer from.

There are four elements that lead to a person becoming physically literate:

Physical skills + confidence + motivation + lots of opportunities = physical literacy

Physical skills

When a child is learning to read, they start by learning words like ‘cat’, ‘sat’ and ‘mat’. 

Similarly, as a child learns physical skills they learn skills such as how to run, jump, throw and balance. 

Children then string words together into sentences and read them.  In the same way, physical skills are linked together to create movement phrases and perform activities such as riding a bike, swimming or performing the triple jump.

Confidence + motivation

Developing the right skills to allow them to try anything in a fun and safe environment means a child will grow up enjoying sport and physical activity.

These positive experiences will allow the child to build an intrinsic motivation, along with a confidence in their ability, to always want to be physically active.

They will develop into an adult who has the necessary skills to participate and enjoy sport and physical activity throughout life at whatever level they choose.

The important things is that the child is exposed to positive, fun and safe experiences, capturing their natural motivation while they are young – when they will try anything! 

Lots of opportunities

Finally, practice makes perfect and to become physically literate a child needs to have lots of opportunities to practice skills, and reinforce their positive experience. 

Everybody – family, teachers, play workers, health professionals, coaches, sports governing bodies and young leaders – have a part to play in helping a child become physically literate. 

Opportunities to support this development with resources such as Play to Learn and Dragon Multi-skills and Sport could take place in the home, in school or in the community.  

For more information on physical literacy and how we can support your club or school to develop and provide physical literacy led provisions, contact us.

Email: activewrexham@wrexham.gov.uk

PlayMaker

An introduction to leadership award designed by Sports Leaders. It is free and the school is given a pack full of activities and challenges to refer to once the training is finished.

In a three hour session the pupils learn about the skills that are important in leadership through a mixture of fun, practical and theory based activities. 

The award covers:

• Important skills to possess as a leader. 
• How to set out a working area that is safe to use for activities.
• How to utilise equipment when running activities. 
• Importance of different communication styles.

The trained PlayMakers will support the delivery of curricular and extra-curricular physical activity at their school and. This is the first step on our volunteer pathway. 

Sports Leaders

The Sports Leaders Level 2 Qualification in Community Sports Leaders is part of the secondary school section of the Active Wrexham Volunteer Pathway in education. 

The qualification is delivered in partnership with Wrexham secondary schools each year and the Sports Leaders become an important part of the implementation of the Active Young People programme in secondary schools.

The qualification includes:

• A ready-made, easy to deliver leadership framework which enables students to deliver structured and inclusive sport and physical activity sessions.
• Discussing important leadership topics such as “What makes a good leader?”, “How to effectively work in a team” and “How to become a good leader”.
• Sessions are comprised of a mixture of discussion, exploration and practical learning delivered through easy to use PowerPoint resources.
• An increase in students’ social and academic confidence.
• More employable students due to increased skills and improved CVs.
• Opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and development.

Young Ambassador Programme

The Sports Wales and Youth Sport Trust Young Ambassador programme aims to empower and inspire young people to become leaders through sport, and to help encourage their peers to become hooked on sport and physical activity for life. 

The Young Ambassadors are active in both the education and community sections of the Active Wrexham Volunteer Pathway, fulfilling the following roles:

• Supporting AYP officers in school with session management and delivery.
• Supporting the delivery of sport and physical activity sessions within the local community. 
• Festival and tournament organisation and delivery.
• Promotion community and national sport in schools.
• Promoting the Young Ambassador programme within Wrexham.
• Working with the Coach and Volunteer Coordinator to help organise conferences to bring together the whole Young Ambassador programme in Wrexham.

For more information please contact the Coach and Volunteer Coordinator. 

Email: coachingandvolunteering@wrexham.gov.uk.