Case Study: Monmouthshire Under 5s Provision
Objective:
Utilise funding to provide young children with opportunities to engage in various sports and physical activities across Monmouthshire.
Implementation:
Since January 2022, MonLife Sport Development have co-ordinated and delivered an extensive foundation phase/TOTS provision aimed at young children aged between 0-5 years old across the whole of Monmouthshire. This provision has provided young children the opportunity to engage in various sports and physical activities, many of whom were engaging in physical activity for the first time. This project has been facilitated through a collaborative effort of a wide range of service areas within MonLife and MCC including our Sport Development Team, Leisure Centres, Flying Start, and our Early Years teams. The overarching aim of this project has been to provide physical activity opportunities for young children who due to the Covid – 19 pandemic have had their opportunities reduced during this important stage of their development. Below is a summary of the project with headline figures and feedback that demonstrates the impact of the offer provided to young children across Monmouthshire.
TMG Tots Sessions
MonLife’s four Leisure Centre’s have been providing free accessible opportunities for children aged 3 – 5 years old to attend an 8 week block of Multi Skills Sport sessions. Over 40 children have been engaged in the sessions in which children have been taught fundamental movement skills through fun and inclusive activities delivered by MonLife staff. The children attending these sessions have been allocated spaces through Flying Start and Early Years services we have been working closely with. Each child that has been signed up for the session has been allocated a MonLife membership card, which in turn has enabled parents’ access to our Clarity live program which will display the children’s achievements. This will also provide data for flying start around the physical competencies of the children and track their performance.
Bespoke Parent and Child Swimming Sessions
An authority wide approach has been taken to provide Parent and Child Swimming sessions for allocated families within Monmouthshire. These bespoke Swimming sessions have been provided for children as young as 6 months old as an opportunity to experience the water for the first time and build their confidence with the supervision of parents and Swimming Instructors. These sessions across the authority have continued to demonstrate the partnership with Flying Start and has helped support children with a barrier to entry into our Aquatics pathways. Three of four MonLife Leisure Centre’s have co-ordinated the delivery of a Bubbles and a Splash session, with 65 children targeted through the provision. Abergavenny Leisure Centre will be launching their provision over the upcoming weeks.
Flying Start Physical Activity Sessions
The Sport Development team have been delivering a series of physical activity sessions focused on fundamental skill development and physical literacy messages for Flying Start and Early Years settings across Monmouthshire. The team have visited 31 Nursery settings over a 4-week period to deliver 4 sessions of physical activity, in which sessions have been devised to cover 4 themes: week 1 safari, week 2 Nature, week 3 seaside and week 4 farm animals. The sessions that have been delivered encompass elements of the new curriculum where children will be able to explore decision making, physical movement, healthy eating and mindfulness. Through the delivery within these pre – school settings over 500 children have had the opportunity to engage within the sessions.
Results:
Please see a few of the testimonials we have recived as a results of this project:
“I was surprised at how well my child has managed to grasp the concept of healthy eating at such a young age (aged). We now continue the good work at home and discuss food options more than we ever did before” – Parent.
“I feel like this is such a great initiative from MonLife, the Physical Literacy sessions will help children and their parents to make healthier choices and set the path to a healthier lifestyle” – Parent.
“These sessions have provided excitement for the children, encouraging their confidence to develop both in and out of the sessions. These sessions have also given the staff a variety of new ideas for physical activities that we can implement at the setting. It also provided the children to get out of their usual learning environment and change their routine”. – Early Years Setting.
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