Tracey has joined in the celebrations at St Katherines Primary School in Snodland to mark National School Sport Week 2014.
Tracey visited St Katherines Primary School on Thursday 26th June to support their Sports Day, which included a variety of different sport challenges to help encourage and inspire the children to get involved in all kinds of fun sporting activity. The school have run a number of sporting activities throughout the week, including an all-day dance-a-thon.
National School Sport Week, delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, is a celebration of PE and school sport, designed to inspire and engage young people in sporting activity. Since its inception in 2009, 9.6 million young people and 22,000 schools have taken part, with thousands of events taking place in schools across the country.
The theme of the Week this year is ‘Give me 5!’ with schools encouraged to pledge that all their young people will take part in five hours of PE and sport during the week.
To maintain a basic level of health, experts recommend that young people take part in one hour of physical activity every day, yet a recent study by researchers at University College London’s Institute of Child Health suggests that only half of young people are reaching this important daily target.
Evidence shows that taking part in high quality PE has significant positive impacts on young people’s lives, with the UK’s Chief Medical Officer stating that physical activity not only improves physical health and mental well being, but boosts concentration and builds key social skills.
Commenting on National School Sport Week, Tracey said:
“National School Sport Week is a great opportunity for young people to try their hand at variety of different sports and to encourage active, healthy lifestyles.
Evidence shows that active children are not only healthier but are able to concentrate better in lessons, and have higher self esteem and confidence.
It has been a pleasure to visit St Katherines Primary to see the sporting action first hand and hear the pupils enthusiasm for sport in their school”.
John Steele, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said:
“It is fantastic to see Tracey supporting National School Sport Week 2014 and wonderful to see so many young people taking part in sport at school”
“Schools play a critical role in encouraging young people to get active at an early age, with good quality PE lessons providing a foundation for healthy habits later in life.”
“At the Youth Sport Trust we believe that PE and sport has the power to change lives and it is an honour to be involved in a week that is inspiring so many young people.”