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The TOPs Programme is a joint project between the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England. The programme provides training and resources to help develop skills with children aged 18 months – 18 years old. There are several linked schemes within the programme that are targeted at specific age groups/key stages. All schemes have been designed to include disabled/special needs pupils.
This was designed to help children aged 18 months – 3 years develop co-ordination and motor skills as research has shown that physical development during this time is very rapid. It provides parents, nursery staff and childminders with a resource that will introduce children to physical activity. The resource comprises of a rucksack that contains brightly coloured, safe equipment designed for young children, an activity book that is based on a cartoon character called sporty, and his friends. There are instructions for each activity, tips on how to make it harder or easier and safety hints. The activities are organised into four groups, aiming games, running and taking games, batting games and collect-on-the-move games. Each game is designed to involve a child and a helper. Demonstration sessions are available through the Active Schools Team. These are open to nursery staff and parents/childminders. During the session they will be shown how to use the equipment and how to set up the activities.
TOP Start has been designed for use with pre-school and nursery children aged 3-5 years. It aims to develop basic movement and ball skills. This is a good resource for nurseries that want to provide physical activity. A bag of brightly coloured equipment is available along with a set of resource cards based around a cartoon character called Sporty, and his friends. Each resource cards shows an activity and provides instructions as well as tips on how to make it easier or harder. Activities are designed to develop basic motor skills, spatial awareness, co-ordination and control and aiming/predicting. A training course is available that provides an opportunity to become familiar with the TOP Start equipment and resource cards. This will include practical activity as games will be demonstrated. The duration of the course is four hours, however, this is usually delivered in 2 x 2 hour sessions.
TOP Play has been developed to support teachers in the delivery of the Key Stage 1 National Curriculum. It is aimed at children aged 4-9 years as they start to develop core skills. Through Lottery funding, a bag of equipment and a set of 55 resource cards are available free of charge. Each resource cards shows an activity with instructions and advice on how to make it easier or harder. The cards are divided into categories that cover rolling, receiving, travelling with a ball, running and jumping, throwing and catching, striking and kicking. Training on using the cards and equipment is available free of charge. This takes the form of 2 x 2-hour sessions or half of an inset day. Advice and guidance on how the cards can be used to support the National Curriculum are part of the course. The training course is delivered at the school site to all teaching staff.
TOP Sport has been developed to support teachers in the delivery of the key Stage 2 National Curriculum. It is aimed at children aged 7-11 years and unlike the previous schemes, is sport specific. Building on the core skills learnt from TOP Play, it enables children to learn skills in a range of sports. Through Lottery funding, a bag of sports specific equipment and a set of resource cards are available free of charge. The cards have small games/activities that teach children the skills needed to play that particular sport. They also have instructions and advice on how to make the games easier or harder. The following 8 sports are covered in the programme: • Netball A school must select which sport they would like and training is based around it. The training course is provided to the school free of charge and takes the form of 2 x 2-hour sessions or half an inset day. Advice and guidance on how the cards can be used to support the National Curriculum are part of the course. The training course is delivered at the school site to all teaching staff. Once the initial training has been completed, individual staff members can attend a ‘TOP Up’ course. These are available in all of the above sports to give schools the opportunity to further develop the TOP Sport scheme within their school. TOP Up courses are also available in athletics, dance and gymnastics. Resource cards are provided as part of the course. Whole school training is currently available in dance and gymnastics free of charge. Other TOPs courses that are available are TOP Oudoors and FIT for TOPs. TOP Outdoors has been developed to enhance outdoor and adventurous activities provision through the Curriculum. FIT for TOPs supports the Investigating and Developing Fitness strand of the Curriculum. Both these courses have the same format as the TOP Up courses.
The Football Association is spending £3 million over the next 3 years in a bid to provide every Key Stage 2 school with training and resources to enhance provision. The programme is run locally as a partnership between Lincolnshire FA and the Sports Development Unit. It will build on the current TOP Sport programme to ensure consistency within schools. Therefore, only schools currently involved in the scheme will be able to access this programme. The resources available to schools are: • One set of TOP goals which also convert
into 6 small goals. Training is organised in phases, with 10 schools being invited to take part in each phase. The programme is about to enter phase 3 in the Spring Term.
This scheme was developed to encourage children to play during their lunch and playtimes. Traditional games have become ‘lost’ or forgotten due to them not being played anymore. The aim is to reintroduce them and as a result, get children to be more active. Lunchtime Supervisors and CSA’s receive training to enable them to deliver the games safely and effectively. Space is always an issue in the playground so advice on suitable areas to set up the games is provided as part of the training. A manual that contains all the guidance notes and lots of games is given to the school once the training is completed. The games are very simple and take very little organisation. Tag games, ball games, Command games, parachute games and skipping songs are all included within the manual, providing a wide variety of activities for children to get involved in. Training takes the form of two one-hour sessions. These are held at the school site and usually take place after the lunch break as the supervisors are still on site. Staff will be required to take part in playing some of the games during the sessions. This is to enable them to get a good understanding of how to organise the games and to give them some practical experience. Schools who have not yet taken advantage of the scheme will receive a free box of equipment upon the completion of training.
Activemark is a Sport England Accreditation Scheme
for Primary and Junior Schools. It is a highly prestigious award that
recognises and awards a school for promoting the benefits of physical
activity and for offering good quality physical activity provision.
It provides schools with an auditing tool that will help to develop
and raise the standard of provision. The scheme is designed to be accessible to all schools. Guidance and advice are available from the Active Schools Team to any school wishing to apply for the Award. The Award is valid for three years. After this time a school can reapply or apply for an Activemark Gold Award. There are 3 application rounds each year, 1st March, 1st July and 1st November.
Activemark Gold is awarded to Primary and
Junior Schools who have excellent physical activity provision. Schools
can apply for the gold award without being an Activemark Award holder
first. Schools that apply but do not meet the requirements will automatically
be assessed for an Activemark Award. A school that has been awarded
the Activemark can apply for gold at any time. |
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