Parklands Academy has long had teams competing in Panathlon events as part of the Chorley Sports Partnership – and now they are also providing Young Leaders who are making the events possible.
Miss Greaves, curriculum leader of the school’s secondary PE department, is very proud of all the students who take part in whatever capacity.
“It has only most recently that our leaders have become more involved,” she explains. “This is because they have been commended on their efforts and leadership skills and invited back! They are a credit to our school and the Panathlon events and training.”
She aims to give as many Young Leaders the chance to be a part of Panathlon events as possible, but when she gets good feedback on particular groups, she always tries to let them go along again. This academic year, she has brought 16 or more pupils to each event – limited only by transport and staffing constraints.
“At the start of the year pupils can opt into the leadership academy run by our Chorley Sports Partnership,” she says. “They are given training and opportunities to develop their leadership skills. As the Panathlon is often in the daytime [meaning they would miss timetabled classes], I only select leaders who have committed to outside of school events as well.”
The Young Leaders have plenty to say about it as well, with one of them, Izzy, describing the opportunity as one that helps them “build confidence, improve communication skills, and develop leadership qualities” and has given them “valuable experience working with others, especially in inclusive environments, and has inspired many to take on more responsibility in school and community activities and overall was a really enjoyable experience.”
Her colleague Lucy agrees, adding that it has given then “real-world experience and a sense of accomplishment”.
And Phoebe adds: “I think that Panathlon has really helped me grow my confidence and has grown my communication skills with younger children and children with SEND. I also had to communicate with adults from the schools and ensured I made every activity accessible to all children. It was a brilliant opportunity to take part in and I hope I can experience it again next year.”
Panathlon’s own Debbie Davies is full of praise for the Parklands group, saying: “We had so many comments on how professional they were, and all with such lovely personalities. There’s definitely plenty of future sports coaches in the making there! They were an absolute pleasure to have with us.”
Unsurprisingly, Miss Greaves has been really pleased to hear such comments.
“The feedback about our leaders has been incredible. They have surpassed my expectations and we are so proud of them! They really throw themselves into each leadership experience.”
