The collaborative effort of Suffolk’s School Games Network, led by School Games Organisers and supported by Active Suffolk, has resulted in an impressive number of school staff being trained to deliver the new LTA Youth Schools primary programme.
The LTA is the national governing body of tennis responsible for governing and growing the sport in Britain, from grassroots participation through to the professional game. The LTA Youth Schools primary programme, which has been shortlisted for two categories in the Education Resource Awards 2021 and has been granted approved provider status by afPE, offers schools a free educational programme, teacher training accompanied by a £250 voucher for schools, and a wealth of cross curricular resources.
LTA Youth Schools is a free, flexible and inclusive programme that has been written by teachers, for teachers. There is always meaning and purpose to every session, with them designed to ensure children have an enjoyable and positive experience.
As well as teaching fundamental movement skills and developing physical literacy through the LTA Youth lesson plans which are great for all sport, tennis is also a great way of developing personal and character skills such as perseverance, resilience and respect, with dedicated classroom materials provided to support this.
James Payne, Senior Development Officer at Active Suffolk said:
“One of the strengths of the School Games Network in Suffolk is the relationships that exist with the county’s schools. It is clear from the fantastic response to the launch of this LTA programme that those inside the network hold strong relationships and are positive advocates and promoters of such opportunities to staff working in the education sector.”
Active Suffolk were pleased to receive the latest update from the LTA, which stated that 82 teachers, local school sports representatives and school sports providers took advantage of the LTA Youth Schools primary programme across the county. Over 80% of those that accessed the training were Suffolk teachers, whilst 4% were from the Suffolk school sports network and the remaining 16% represented an external school sports provider’s working across the county.
LTA Youth Schools forms part the broader LTA Youth programme, created by the LTA to help more children enjoy the benefits of playing and staying in tennis, whatever their age, gender, ability, disability or background.
Leo Tutt, Participation Development Partner at the LTA said:
“LTA Youth Schools is a progressive programme that provides skills for life, not just for tennis, and will help develop young people as both players and people. We encourage schools to link with their local tennis venue and LTA Accredited Coach to create sustainable school club links and opportunities for young people to play. We are exceptionally grateful to the Suffolk School Games Network and Active Suffolk for their support which has helped to achieve such a fantastic response across the county.”
The success of the roll out of LTA Youth Schools to primary schools in Suffolk will be followed in September by the launch of the secondary schools programme, which will again offer free training and resources.
It is hoped that this will have the same response both nationally and locally through the support of Active Suffolk and the team of Suffolk School Games Organisers.
All resources and teacher training courses are available for free at www.lta.org.uk/schools