Northampton primary school children ‘Get Set for Milan’ at Malcolm Arnold Academy
Last week, 300 pupils from eight schools in the David Ross Education Trust were invited to Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northampton to kick off the ‘Get Set for Milan’ Winter Games activity programme. Children at schools across the country are being encouraged to get active, and track their progress online, as athletes get ready to compete from major sporting venues at the Winter Games in Milan next year.
To highlight the programme, children from DRET schools in Daventry, Northampton, Kettering and Corby were invited to take part in activities with Paralympic GB’s Menna Fitzpatrick, a partially sighted British alpine skier, and Team GB’s Shelley Rudman, a skeleton bobsleigh athlete.
On Thursday 6 November, the athletes and members of the Get Set for Milan team encouraged the children to try lots of different activities, winter sports experiences and hands-on skills and tasks. Children tried out curling, indoor ski-jump and Biathlon activities, whilst making friendship bracelets to reinforce the Olympic values as part of the day. The aim of the programme is to get as many primary aged children involved as possible to build healthy habits, try new activities to build confidence and learn skills that are adaptable to all sports.
Mirabelle from Welton CE Primary Academy said: “It’s been really good fun as we’ve got to try out lots of sports today.”
Jayden, a pupil at Newnham Primary Academy said: “I really enjoyed the curling, because we worked together as part of a team and needed really precise skill to hit the target.”
Clare Berry, Principal of Malcolm Arnold Academy, said: "It was wonderful to host the GB Olympic Team and athletes at Malcolm Arnold Academy. It was lovely to see the work that they did with DRET primary schools to inspire the next generation and to enthuse them about the Milan Winter Olympics. Malcolm Arnold Academy students were a credit to us on the day and enjoyed their participation with primary school pupils. A great day all round."
Simon Rose, interim CEO at David Ross Education Trust said: “We were delighted to host Team GB’s launch of Get Set for Milan to encourage as many children as possible to get active in time for the Milan Olympics next year. All our children had a fantastic day of sports and I would like to thank everyone from Team GB and Paralympic GB for giving the children a brilliant day of sporting activities.”
Students in the Malcolm Arnold Academy’s choir opened the whole day with a reworking of a recently composed version of “Land of Hope and Glory”. Menna Fitzpatrick spoke in the assembly about how she had started her career and advised them to “take inspiration from each other”. She told the children about her challenges as a Paralympic athlete saying “there will be tough times, but having determination and pushing through is where you’re going to learn the most.”