Step Into Sport
Following the publication of A Sporting Future for All – The Government’s Plan for Sport in March 2001, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced a new drive to support the development of a leadership and volunteering project for young people aged 14-19 called Step into Sport.
Sports Leaders UK, Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust are contracted as a consortium to manage this project, building upon their current work within the area of leadership and volunteering.
Step into Sport (SiS) is a project which is being managed through a number of separate but interlinked steps;
Step 1 - Sport Education
Upper schools within School Sport Partnerships are provided with training and resource materials to introduce Sport Education as a support to the delivery of the Key Stage 3 and 4 PE curriculum. This is a basic introduction to sports leadership and responsibility. Students learn to plan, manage and run their own sports ‘season’ as part of their PE programme. The Youth Sport Trust has developed resources and training to support teachers and students to adopt this model within the curriculum.
Step 2 - Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership
Sports Leaders UK provide free training to enable upper school teachers in School Sports Partnerships to deliver the award. This is predominantly delivered through KS 4 of the curriculum. Sports Leaders UK organise training courses for teachers to deliver this course. The award is a nationally recognised qualification that helps people over the age of 14 develop their leadership skills. The course adapts generic skills which can be applied to a variety of sporting activities. It is a practical qualification where individuals learn through doing, rather than written tests.
Step 3 - Top Link
Students who have taken the Level 1 award in Junior Sports Leadership will be encouraged to use the TOP Link programme to plan and stage a festival of sport or dance for students from local lower and/or special schools. This will be managed by teachers/school sport co-ordinators. The four young people who make up the festival management team will also be invited to attend a one-day ‘Young people leading the way’ conference.
Step 4 - Level 2 Award in Community Sports Leadership
The Level 2 Award in Community Sports Leadership gives people aged 16+ the skills needed to plan and deliver safe sporting and recreational activity.
The award develops leadership skills such as communication, organisation and motivation whilst instilling confidence and a desire to improve young peoples experiences through sport and recreation. Each individual is required to carry out 10 hours of volunteering which builds on steps 1-3 above.
Step 5 - Community Volunteering
An average of 20 students in each School Sport Partnership are identified and supported to engage in volunteering in local communities including sports clubs. Mentors within schools will be responsible for supporting young people to make this move.
The community volunteering programme is aimed at young people between the ages of 16 and 19 who have undertaken some leadership training, such as Sports Leaders UK Awards or National Governing Body (NGB) leader’s awards. The programme delivered and supported through School Sports Partnerships (SSP) and County Sports Partnerships provide opportunities for the young volunteers to undertake a volunteer placement in an appropriate local club or organisation, and work towards a national Step into Sport award for 50, 100 or 200 hours of volunteering.
Clubs will play a key role in ensuring the best possible opportunities and experiences are created for these young people, who are demonstrating a commitment to improving their own personal skills as well as striving to provide benefits for their local community. The programme will consist of the following;
- Identified young volunteers attend Community Volunteering One Day Conference
- The County Sports Partnership via local links, work with local clubs and organisations to identify appropriate placement opportunities
- Volunteer co-ordinators sourced from within clubs, support the young volunteers during their placement
- Mentors (school staff) and volunteer co-ordinators attend an informal briefing about their roles
- Young volunteers, mentors and volunteer co-ordinators discuss and agree details of the placement opportunity
- Young volunteer commences volunteering and works towards first 50 hours.
This year the programme has 19 sixth form students who are active volunteers within community clubs. All students are working towards the targets of 50, 100 or 200 hours of volunteering.
If you have placements available for volunteers within your club or organisation, please email via the contact us page or call James Stephenson on 01525 842604.
