LONDON 2012


Inspire Aspire


The Inspire Aspire


programme is using the


2012 Olympic Games to encourage students to consider their own aspirations, values and strengths – and it has just become available UK-wide. Anne Nicholls explains


performance of Team GB and on who has (or hasn’t) got tickets, behind the scenes young people all over the country are getting fired up through a personal development programme that is based on a very simple idea. The programme, called Inspire Aspire, is designed


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to help pupils in secondary schools reflect on their own aspirations, values and personal strengths by studying an Olympic or Paralympic athlete as a role model. Popular choices are former Olympic champion


Dame Kelly Holmes and young diving sensation Tom Daley. There is no set syllabus as such. Instead, teachers


guide pupils through a series of exercises, with the ultimate objective of producing a poster that enables pupils to present what they have learned in an imaginative way. And there is an award scheme with gold, silver and bronze medals as an extra incentive. Inspire Aspire is run by a educational charity called


Character Education, based in Scotland. It is grant funded so all schools can take part at either no cost or very low cost. As such, this is hopefully a resource which schools can use to get the most out of the learning opportunities around London 2012. In short, what Inspire Aspire does is provide schools


with a proven method to certify learning about the Olympic and Paralympic values and character qualities. Inspire Aspire builds on the work of the Learning


for Life project, a UK-wide programme of teaching set up in 2007 that focuses on learning development and practical activities for schools. It is built around an understanding of the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, respect, courage and determination. Activities begin with students writing about their


strengths and challenges, illustrating their thoughts with suitable quotations and images, across seven assignments. The eighth project is research about an Olympian or inspirational sports figure and the


SecEd • January 5 2012


ITH LESS than six months to go until the 2012 Olympic Games, we are being bombarded with images, merchandise and the inevitable hype. But while the focus may be on the


personal qualities they needed to develop to achieve their success. The culmination of the exercise is a personal action


plan and a poster. Pupils successfully completing the exercise are awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals at the annual Inspire Aspire Awards, which have been running in Scotland and Wales since 2009 and were launched in England last summer and in Northern Ireland in November. Currently, around 100 schools have been involved in the awards so far and the aim is to get 200 more signed up. This year, it is hoped that ceremonies will take place


in Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff and London in June and July. Cove School in Hampshire was at the London


ceremony last year – held at Canary Wharf in July – and was one of the first to pilot the programme in England. They started with just four pupils and have now expanded the programme to all 200 pupils in year 8 with a view to offering it across the whole school. Timetabling involves four 50-minute sessions, a cross- curriculum day and tutorial time. Nikki Tribe, who teaches PE at the school, explains


how it works: “Inspire Aspire is not just about PE, it’s about developing the whole person. It makes them rethink their career ideas and aspirations. It also helps to build self-esteem and improve attendance – something that has been particularly successful with low-achieving students. Before they didn’t know what Olympics values meant. Now they do.” Cynics might question the value of this kind of


programme when it is not focused around the core curriculum. Others might wonder if raising aspirations will result in a lack of realism, particularly in the current economic climate. Listening to what pupils say provides an insight into the benefits. Lizzie Islip, 15, from Cove School, chose Dame


Kelly Holmes as her role model and met her in person when she gave a talk at the school. She said: “Kelly really inspired me. She’s overcome


massive difficulties – injuries, depression and self- harming. When I go through hard times I will remember what she went through. “Before, I didn’t know what qualities like resilience


and resourcefulness meant. Now I know. Learning about Kelly has really opened up my mind to the kind of person I want to be.” Lizzie is taking 12 GCSEs this summer, then plans


to take science A levels and eventually go into teaching. Working through the programme helped her to focus on what she really wants to do. Pupils from some of the Scottish schools have


similar comments. Some say how the project has helped them to decide what they want out of life, given them confidence to realise their dreams, spurred them with determination to succeed, and helped them to express their thoughts and feelings in a new and exciting way. Meera Patel, 14, from St Columba’s School in


Inverclyde, said: “I have learned a lot about what really makes a hero – it takes courage, skill and determination. I’ve also learned about how even the smallest good deed can go a long way. She added: “As well as learning about other


people, I have learned about my personal strengths and weaknesses and how I can improve. Now I know what I want to achieve in life and my goals and how to reach them.” Meanwhile, Kirsty McColm, 13, from Stanraer


Academy, added: “Everything I have written in this poster has really made me think about my life and much of it I have to live and try to squeeze every possible


drop out of every experience. Life is spectacularly breathtaking.” Positive words from a generation that are going to


find it tougher than ever to get into the jobs market. But it is encouraging to see that real heroes (not people who have their five minutes on reality television) are the role models that youngsters aspire to. It is worth remembering that the vision behind the


modern Olympics was all about education. Founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin held the view that the personal code of conduct arising from one’s sporting pursuits could support the development of character and the achievement of broader educational and life goals. He saw in the Games an ideal opportunity to develop a set of universal principles – or values – that


Olympic inspiration: Some of the Inspire Aspire participants from Cove School get their medals at the first ever London awards ceremony last summer


could be applied to education and to society as a whole, as well as to sport itself.


SecEd


• Anne Nicholls is a communications consultant writing on behalf of the Inspire Aspire initiative.


Further information


Schools can apply to take part in Inspire Aspire online but must register before April 30. For further details, visit www.inspire-aspire.org.uk


Moral support: National Children’s Bureau Meeting your duties


Dr Hilary Emery tackles the uncertainty


around the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty


THE EQUALITY Act 2010 (EQA) brings together nine acts of Parliament and about 100 sets of regulations. In general, schools had become familiar with the legislation that preceded EQA but many seem to be deeply uncertain about what is in EQA itself. In practice, most of the duties are familiar and


have broadly similar practical implications for schools. Schools meeting their duties under the previous legislation will probably find that they don’t need to make many changes to meet the new requirements but with an April deadline looming, they need to make sure they’re aware of the new requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty. There are two important new terms in the EQA:


protected characteristics and prohibited conduct. For schools’ duties towards pupils, the protected characteristics are: disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The EQA sets out the behaviour, the prohibited


conduct, that is against the law. Schools must not discriminate against a pupil or potential pupil in admissions, the provision of education and other services at the school, or exclusion. But the responsibilities go beyond discrimination


against individual pupils. Schools must also make their school more accessible to disabled pupils (the accessibility planning duties) and improve equality of opportunity for pupils, staff, parents, carers and other people using the school, who share protected characteristics. The Public Sector Equality Duty is a general duty


on schools, and other public bodies, to get rid of discrimination, improve equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different groups. This general duty includes the need to tackle prejudice, promote understanding, address disadvantage, and promote participation in the life of the school. The aim of the duty is to embed equality considerations into the every day decisions made by schools and other public bodies. Regulations that came into force in September


2011 require schools to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the general duty and to prepare and publish equality objectives. Schools have a deadline of April 6 next year. The objectives should be specific and measurable and published somewhere accessible to the public. An effective set of equality objectives can be an


efficient way of removing barriers for pupils who share protected characteristics. We know, for example, that disabled pupils do


less well at school than their non-disabled peers and they are more likely to be persistent absentees, to be excluded, to achieve poorer outcomes and to be out of education, employment or training when they leave school. The Public Sector Equality Duty is designed to address these disadvantages faced by disabled pupils and pupils who share other protected characteristics. Involving pupils, parents, staff and others in the


development of equality objectives is a good way to identify actions that will make a difference. Recent research for the Equality and Human


Rights Commission highlighted teachers’ commitment to addressing inequality as being a key driver for schools’ work on equality duties. Alongside this principled commitment, schools are also driven by a consideration of the requirements in the legislation. School leaders need to know, and inform colleagues about, the new requirements. Getting it right for vulnerable groups of pupils holds the potential to transform outcomes across our education system.


• Dr Hilary Emery is chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau, which works in partnership with a range of educational charities to improve the lives of children. Visit www.antibullyingalliance.org.uk


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