Young people in North Yorkshire are well placed to carry on the Olympic legacy through participation and excellence in sport.
North Yorkshire County Council has led in the maintaining of school sport partnerships which have been reduced drastically in many other parts of the country. In conjunction with North Yorkshire schools £591,000 has been invested in these local partnerships which release secondary school PE teachers to work in primary schools to tap into children’s talent and potential in sport from the earliest age.
The county council continues to offer a sports advisory service as part of its quality and improvement package to schools and has additionally seconded three PE teachers to work as advisers to promote sport participation and excellence across the county.
Most children in North Yorkshire schools continue to enjoy at least two hours of sport a week, with many additional activities and team sporting events between schools taking place during lunch time and after school. The county council encourages inter-school sporting competition and events and maintains a close relationship with clubs in order to develop those with sporting gifts and talents. These include encouraging less common sports for example a girls boxing club in a school in Thirsk.
Moreover the county council has sustained an outdoor education service in partnership with its schools when many other authorities have closed down their outdoor education centres altogether. The county has two outdoor centres at Bewerley Park near Pateley Bridge and East Barnby near Whitby and through the School’s Forum, which represents North Yorkshire schools, allocates cash from the dedicated schools grant in order to maintain an outdoor education opportunity for every child in the county.
John Bell, North Yorkshire’s assistant director for quality and improvement in schools said:
These have become centres of excellence used by 90 per cent of our primary schools and our youth service and where children and young people come into contact with sports such as kayaking and sailing in which we have excelled at the Olympics.
County Councillor Arthur Barker, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Schools added:
North Yorkshire is well represented at county level in sport and this is no accident. Our children continue to enjoy at least two hours of sport a week and come into contact with a wide range of options. Great Britain has excelled across the field in the Olympics and in this county we will keep the legacy alive. We continue to believe in giving children and young people the chance to enjoy as wide a range of sports as possible as well as providing opportunities for them to excel.
