Sports & Play


What are the barriers to sport and how do you break them down?


“There are currently many pathways offered from schools through to sport, so I don’t believe there are barriers. However, there are barriers standing in the way of young people accessing certain areas of the curriculum, and we aim to use sport and our programmes to break those down. There are many young people who cannot access education due to their varying academic abilities and potential social issues that create barriers in the normal class environment, but whose enjoyment comes through physical activity and sport. We are able to use our unique position as a football club to work with educational institutions to reach these young people and use sport as a hook to re-engage them in education.”


Do you have evidence of your education programmes boosting academic results and improving the well being of pupils? “In the London Borough of Haringey, attainment levels at GCSE stage have increased year on year over the past decade, and our education programmes in the Borough over the past seven years support this trend. This is best shown through our work with the Borough’s children in care – 30% of whom achieved five A-C grades at GCSE in 2010 compared to only 8% nationally in 2002.


“Individually, the young people we work with have shown large increases in self- esteem and wellbeing as a result of our programmes and have re-engaged with mainstream education such as in one of our writing programmes, where 92% of participants said they felt more confident in their class as a result.”


Is the cross curricular application of sport in schools sufficient?


“Thanks to the introduction of the School Sports Partnership and the work of Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust, sport is now delivered to a high level in schools


across the country. Students now access between 2-5 hours of physical education every week, whereas before this was more sporadic. We use the status of the Club in the community to add value by delivering extended services before, during and after school.”


What about your outreach programmes, how do they work and what is the objective?


“We have sought to use our unique position as a Premier League football club to create innovative programmes that offer a seamless pathway to support hard to reach young people in our community and enable them to access education and employment opportunities. As well as our intervention programmes delivered across Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, we also offer other courses and


the community to broker opportunities with businesses, local government and other partners to equip young people with the skills needed to become employable, not just in sport but across all sectors. This is especially important in our local borough of Haringey, where 2,345 young people aged under 25 years were out of work and claiming benefit in July 2011, this represented a 9.4% annual increase.


“Making young people employable underpins everything we do. This is demonstrated by the Education and Football Development Centre courses we run in partnership with local colleges. Of the first year intake, 45% went on to gain employment with a further 28% going into Higher Education. Before joining the programme, many of these young people had previously been classified as NEET.”


“At the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, health is a fundamental building block to the successful education of our young people.”


Apprenticeship schemes designed to break down the barriers they face throughout their journey from primary through to Further and Higher Education. Stats show that this will culminate in the young people gaining employment.”


You also offer Foundation Degrees. What are the entry requirements and what do they have to offer young people?


“The entry requirements for our Foundation Degrees are 120 - 160 points plus GCSE grades A to C in Mathematics, English and Science or BTEC National Diploma, BTEC National certificate, the New Sports Diploma and Access courses. Mature students may also be accepted providing they can show appropriate levels of relevant ability and experience.


“Not only do our Foundation Degrees offer students the unique learning environment of a Premier League football club but provides young people in our community an opportunity to access Higher Education that they may not have otherwise had. The FdA Applied Sport and Community Development course is now in its second academic year, with over 96% of students progressing onto the second year and a cohort of over 40 students currently enrolled across the two years.”


Although the link to sport forms the basis of your work, the programmes go beyond offering this as the only career path don’t they?


“Sport is simply the catalyst. From there, no restrictions exist to the young people we work with in terms of the career path they may choose. We use our unique position in


January 2012


Would you say sport in education is a priority for the current government? Is there more that needs to be done? “I believe there is a real acceptance in all forms of Government as to the power of sport, and in particular football in helping to tackle social issues, such as educational attainment and youth unemployment. However, there is always more that can be done. I hope by continuing to work closely with local and central government, we can better harness our unique position in the community and use the Club’s resources to create opportunities in sport through education.”


How important is sport in schools to health, education and the economy? “At the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, health is a fundamental building block to the successful education of our young people. All of our programmes therefore carry the key message around healthy lifestyles and endorse the Change for Life campaign.”


Do you have any plans to expand your programmes in 2012?


“We are always looking to increase our provision across the four London Boroughs we work within. We are especially looking to develop our Further Education and Higher Education provision by offering Apprenticeships in the areas of retail and hospitality. In partnership with Middlesex University, we are already in the process of developing a new Foundation Degree in Applied Sports Hospitality and Nutrition, and over the coming year hope to engage with over 100 Higher Education students.”


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