School students experience University at Festival of Sport
A FESTIVAL of sport hosted at the University of Chichester has encouraged young people to engage in different activities and experience higher education.
The event was organised by the Institute of Sport for more than 800 year nine and ten students from schools across the south of England.
It provided the students with opportunities to participate in sporting activities including wheelchair hockey and ultimate Frisbee, learn about exercise and its effects on the body in various strength and stamina tests, and find out what courses are on offer at the University.
Professor Mike Lauder, Head of the Institute of Sport, said: “This is the second year now that we’ve run the Festival of Sport – last year we had 400 students and this time twice as many have come to the event.
“The word of mouth has been really good, more and more schools have heard about what we do at the festival and it’s something they want as a date in their diary for their students.
“I think we’ve built an event that’s all about raising awareness of opportunities in sport before students go to college.
“We would like the students to be aware of the courses we study under the banner of sport but we want the students to go away having experienced university as a fun place to be.”
Alison Davis, placement coordinator at the Institute of Sport, who was the festival’s key organiser this year said: “The students all come from schools where our University students have been on placement.
“In one way the festival is like a big thank you for having our students, and the schools can come here and have a fun day out and try activities that they might not get to do at school.
“We’ve had students from 28 schools all over the south of England from Shoreham to Reading and Ringwood – it’s great to see all these activities in one place and to see everyone joining in and mixing.
“I think the teachers enjoy talking to our staff and sharing ideas and the students get a fantastic opportunity to see where their interest in sport might take them.”
Kerry Eames, head of PE at Chichester High School, graduated from the University of Chichester 15 years ago.
She said: “What’s on offer at the festival is really impressive, it’s an event that encourages students to try other things. We’ve brought 20 PE students.
“They’re having a great time and we’ve learnt a lot that we can take back into our teaching.”
Her colleague Julian Boniface, director of sport at the school, added: “The festival is a fantastic opportunity for GCSE students that are looking to go on to university.”
To find out more about the Institute of Sport at the University of Chichester go to www.chi.ac.uk/chichester-institute-sport.
