Gifted and Talented
The principle aim of the Gifted and Talented strand of PESSCL is to improve the identification of, support and provision for gifted and talented pupils in Physical Education and School Sport. Action is divided into four key areas. These are:
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Benchmarking Excellence - Gifted and Talented PE Quality Standards are being developed and will be published in the autumn. This is complimented by on-line support materials for schools and local authorities to help them achieve the standards. There will also be professional development for teachers to help them support talented young people within PE.
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Talent Identification in PE is a key challenge facing schools. Research has been undertaken by Leeds Metropolitan University and Christ Church Canterbury identifying the components of talent. This research is being used to inform all the other strands of the programme and has been incorporated into the Multi-skill Academy guidance document to help teachers identify talented young people in their schools.
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Provision for talented young athletes is crucial to helping them fulfil their potential. A network of Multi-skill Academies is being established for young people in School Sport Partnerships. These are designed to help young people, with identified talent, develop the core skills that are the basis of all sports. Mastery of these skills is crucial to young people being eventually successful in their chosen sport. By the summer of 2005, 200 Multi Skills Academies will be up and running involving in excess of 6 000 young people. Also 16 National Governing Bodies of Sport have also been supported to deliver Performance Camps for their elite young athletes. Over 30 camps have been held and have provided many young people with unique experiences of elite sport.
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Support for talented athletes. There are many pressures and demands on talented young people in terms of balancing the demands of school, home and sport. Talent support programmes are being put in place through School Sport Partnerships to help them effectively support talented young people. This involves the Junior Athlete Education (JAE) programme which trains and supports young people and teachers in lifestyle management and performance planning. The programme involves the identification of trained adult JAE mentors who support the talented young athletes in their relationships with their coach, teachers and parent/carers. This programme is currently operational in 240 School Sport Partnerships. An on-line Profiling and Tracking system for schools will be launched in the autumn which will enable schools to enhance the support schools offer.
To date, a number of case studies have been published and pilot projects supported to inform this process. These are available from the talentladder and talentmatters websites.
More information on the Gifted and Talented workstrand is avilable from the following websites:
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www.youthsporttrust.org — This provides information on the positioning of the Gifted and Talented workstrand alongside other elements of Youth Sport Trust and a general introduction to the key elements of the programme.
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www.talentladder.org — This provides details of each element of the Gifted and Talented workstrand and also acts as a portal to other relevant websites which offer advice and support.
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www.talentmatters.org — This provides details on the research, advice on the quality standards and case studies and good practice examples.
Published: 10 August 2005
