Primary Schools Get Set Go!

On Thursday 29th March nearly 700 primary school children from around the Wellington region will descend upon the ASB Indoor Sports Centre in Kilbirnie!

The sports centre will be host to the launch of Athletic New Zealand's KiwiSport funded project ‘Get Set Go’, which will give participating schools an opportunity to have a taster of their new school-based programme.

Get Set Go is a programme that focuses on the development of fundamental movement skills of young people by using athletics as a vehicle. The programme is part of the larger KiwiSport Fundamental Movement Skills Project lead by Leisure Active with funding from Sport Wellington; which aims to increase the skill level of school-aged children so they can effectively participate in sport. Over the last 18 months KiwiSport has invested $492,540.000 in the project, which has seen 17,212 children from 93 schools across Hutt Valley and Porirua receive at least one block of eight fundamental movement lessons. Piloted in the Hutt Valley, the programme will now expand across the region to include Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti schools over the next four terms.

KiwiSport Manager, Peter Woodman-Aldridge said ‘schools are offered programmes that include Learn to Swim, MoveMprove (GymSports NZ foundation programme) and Football in Schools. Every child receives at least eight lessons of that programme. It is great to now have Athletics NZ onboard with such a stimulating programme for these kids. These foundation skills will help the kids to gain confidence, therefore giving them the self-belief to try their hand and many different sports, creating many new opportunities for them’.

Competence in these foundation movement skills plays a central role in healthy cognitive, social, physical and emotional growth. Children who develop competence in these important building blocks within early primary school years have been shown to have greater participation levels in physical activity experiences, both throughout later schooling and in adult life.

Karen Laurie, Get Set Go Manager said ‘the feedback from teachers and coaches in schools and clubs using the programme has been extremely positive. A key theme emerging from this feedback is how the programme has given them the knowledge base and tools they need to teach the basic skill elements in children; but uses a fun play based approach that children really respond to - certainly the smiles and delighted faces of all the children who have been involved so far have highlighted the success of the programme’.

Nicola Airey, Head of Sponsorship for NZ Post, primary sponsor of Get Set Go, said, ‘we’re on our way to reaching 200,000 children in over 800 schools throughout New Zealand. If we can instill in just a fraction of those children, a lifelong interest in sport and physical activity, then we will have done something very worthwhile’.

Get Set Go will be on Thursday 29th March from 11.30am-2.00pmat the ASB Indoor Sports Centre, Kilbirnie. For more information on the Fundamental Movement Skills programme, please go to sportwellington.org.nz/kiwisport

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