Kicking off our unique partnership with the FA!
The Trust is marking Girls’ Football Week with the announcement that it is the first multi-academy trust to become an FA Girls’ Area Hub.
This unique partnership between Star Academies and the FA will see all of our eligible schools benefit from a strong, inclusive and engaging programme that aims to change girls’ perceptions of football and address social barriers to participation.
As the Trust joins a network of organisations that support and deliver girls’ football across England, our Head of Pupil Leadership Specialism Kate Hebden commented:
“As the first multi-academy trust to become an FA Girls’ Area Hub, Star Academies schools will have access to programmes developed by the FA to encourage more girls to get involved in the beautiful game, and not only as players.
“We aim to empower our female pupils to get involved in the sport both on and off the pitch, developing leadership skills and character traits that will stay with them for life.
“Staff in the schools taking part in the programme will have access to FA accredited CPD courses leading to qualifications in sports coaching. The Trust will also be in a position to help the FA develop best practice for extending the programme.”
The FA Girls’ Area Hub programme takes learning opportunities through football way beyond the pitch.
The primary school programme, Active Literacy, aims to engage girls aged five to seven years in creative play and boost their literacy skills through football themed activities. Older pupils from the Trust’s neighbouring secondary schools can get involved as ‘activators’, developing their own coaching and leadership capabilities as they support delivery of the Active Literacy programme.
In secondary schools, the Game of Our Own programme empowers girls in Years 7 to 9 to set up and run their own football club as an after school activity. Aside from the players, many leadership roles are available to pupils including coach and event manager. Funding is also available to support pupils in the running of their clubs. In addition, teachers deliver character development sessions through their core curriculum PE that help pupils’ gain vital life skills such as motivating others, communication, empathy and leadership.
Secondary schools taking part in the FA Girls’ Area Hub programme will also have the chance to host a visit from an England women’s footballer, to lead a workshop or deliver an assembly.
A spokesperson for the Youth Sport Trust said:
“The Girls’ Football Area Hubs aim to generate greater collaboration with local football and education providers to create a clear, coherent pathway for girls at a local level to grow and develop in and through football.
“Through our school partnerships we will build a solid infrastructure of families of schools that are committed to developing the girls’ game. The FA’s focus is to help girls become more physically active with improved wellbeing and increased physical literacy of five to eight year olds, and to help them have the confidence and competence to play football both at school and in the community.”
During Girls’ Football Week, which takes place between 6 and 12 November, the Trust’s schools are running a variety of activities such as drop-in lunchtime football taster sessions, after school clubs and kick-up contests. At Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School in Blackburn pupils in Years 7 and 8 will take part in a football tournament, and Highfield Leadership Academy in Blackpool will use the week to kick off their girls’ football after school club. The Olive School, Birmingham has enlisted the help of a football coach to deliver skills coaching sessions to their primary pupils.
The Trust plans to celebrate the achievements of pupils through the FA Girls’ Area Hub programme in the summer of 2018 with its own inter-school Football Festival.
Added By: Claire Tulloch | Date Added: 8th Nov 2017 | Posted In: Latest News