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SPORT START PROGRAMME

Chris Cowman —

PHYSICAL LITERACY

At Maungaraki School we will be utilising the SportStart programme as part of our Physical Education curriculum.  SportStart aims to improve young people's physical literacy.  This philosophy is based on developing fundamental movement and sports skills in tandem with critical thinking and communication skills which gives children a solid foundation of skills to build on later in life.  Successful and rewarding participation in sport and physical activity, whether for enjoyment or competition, relies on the development of all three skill areas. This foundation is essential for the long term development of healthy, confident and competent young people.

In addition to developing a positive attitude toward physical activity and hauora (wellbeing), the development of physical literacy skills will also assist the young person to develop creatively, socially and personally.  All of this together, will give the children the competence, confidence and motivation to stay active for life.

Students will get active, stay active, and even reach the greatest heights of sport achievement if they do the right things at the right times.  This is the logic behind the Long-Term Athlete Development model, which SportStart is based upon (called the Fundamentals Continuum in SportStart).  This continuum promotes the belief that Physical Education teaching and learning should be developmentally appropriate.  It focuses on developing their knowledge, understanding and skills in a way that is not only appropriate to their stage of development, but also their cognitive capability, and their social and emotional maturity.  The SportStart activities within a PE session are adapted to cater towards the differing stages of the children within each class.

If followed, the Fundamentals Continuum will help develop young people who:

· Have developed a strong foundation of fundamental movement skills
· Understand concepts of games
· Apply skills in a range of games (e.g. apply skills in cricket and softball or in netball, football and rugby)
· Have confidence to try ‘new’ activities
· Enjoy participating in sports and physical activity