In 1000 days on the London 2012 website

London 2012 have been celebrating the fact that there is now just 1000 days to go until the start of the 2012 Olympics. They’ve been asking on twitter and their website what people want to achieve in the next 1000 days.

For us, we’ve got a number of roles to play in staging the Olympics, and we’re involved in quite a few projects which have London 2012 as the catalyst.

The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence is one, developed to help athletes succeed at the highest level. Originally developed with the intention of seeing athletes succeed at London 2012, we were obviously delighted to see nine AASE athletes compete in the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics , including double gold medalist Rebecca Adlington.

While it is great to help athletes in their quest for success over the next 1000 days, we also want the sector as a whole to be a success in line with our vision: More People, Better Skilled, Better Qualified. Some of the other projects we’re involved with will certainly help us in meeting that challenge.

With the news that more than five million people are currently participating in London 2012 Games-related projects, initiatives such as Personal Best certainly help get more people better skilled and better qualified.

Personal Best is the national pre-employment training programme, which uses the prospect of being a volunteer at London 2012 to engage workless and socially excluded people with education and help them gain skills, lift their aspirations and open up new life and career opportunities.

Recruit into Coaching is another project we’re involved in which will provide more people, better skilled and better qualified. We aid Sport England in delivering the Recruit into Coaching programme, which aims to recruit, train and deploy 10,000 new volunteers by 2011, greatly increasing our volunteer coaching workforce and directly increasing the sporting activity in both school and community settings.

Sport England have recently produced the following case study looking at the impact of the programme on participants and how these coaches can then go on to help others through sport.

So what do you want to achieve in 1000 days? Let us know through comments below and let London 2012 know through their website or by using the twitter hashtag #in1000days.

The Childcare Act requires that 50% of staff working under a level 3 qualified manager/supervisor must have a relevant level 2 qualification, and essentially there is not enough qualified staff to go around. 37 of the 49 settings who responded to our survey said they had had to reconsider their plans for holiday play schemes. 6 settings had decided to exclude under 6’s, and a further 13 were considering it. While it is always dangerous to extrapolate, if this percentage is accurate across England, then 12% of holiday playschemes will have excluded under 6’s, and 26% have considered it, and may in fact have done so since filling in the survey – which started at the end of May!

Other ‘solutions’ that settings have put in place include offering activity based provision so that they are exempt from the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Responses indicate that 2 employers have done this and a further 6 were considering it; others are using qualified staff to work with younger children and unqualified staff to work with older ones. I do not feel this adds up to offering quality playwork, but I suspect also that a huge number of dedicated playworkers have been putting in a lot of unpaid hours and working below minimum wage in order to run summer schemes. This is not a recipe for a sustainable, professional sector.

The number of children affected is equally disturbing. It is estimated that 7500 children would be affected as a result of changed plans and a further 4300 if settings considering different options took these forward.

At SkillsActive we are working DCSF officials for acceptance of the new level 2 Award in Playwork.  This qualification takes a similar amount of time to complete as training based on the induction standard. This will be practical for University students who make up the bulk of the summer playscheme workforce and an accessible solution for employers needing to recruit and qualify temporary staff for holiday provision.

Even more importantly, today Lord Mandelson (Secretary of State, BIS) has announced our new licence as the SSC for Active Leisure and Learning. This is something of a coincidence – but at least we will be able to remember the date!

We are proud of our achievements to date, and delighted that the comprehensive relicensing assessment recognised the expertise that we bring to the sector.

We were scored as “good” in all categories and “outstanding” for our sector specific solutions which includes innovations such as the Register of Exercise Professionals, National Skills Academy and Active Passport. We received further praise for our work across our diverse sectors, the strength of our labour market intelligence and pioneering work at a European level.

All of these are part of our vision, aspirations and ambitions for developing and up-skilling the workforce over the next 5 years – so the challenge is now to continue with our mission.

Despite this reality, our industry has remained somewhat buoyant, the growth has slowed down, yet we continue to see a rise in opportunities. To this end, there has never been a better time to attract people to start a career within health and fitness.

Our Sector Skills Agreement research has shown that there is a lack of people with higher level skills in management and leadership attracted to the industry, and yet according to national statistics, there are unemployed graduates; so I have to ask the question, are we doing enough to attract the right people?

Employers repeatedly tell me that expectation is often a barrier to attracting graduates into the industry. They have the skills required and yet don’t expect to learn the business by working on the front desk or cleaning the bathrooms.

This may have been the case five years ago; however the rise in vocationally-based qualifications, placement work experience, and part-time jobs have given graduates a realistic picture of the industry, so expectation can no longer be a significant barrier.

According to the FIA State of the Industry Report, in 2009 the industry’s total revenue was up to almost £4billion – an all time high. This places a greater emphasis on the workforce, and ensuring that we have the right people with the right skills to support this growth. Positively, our recently launched 2009 Working in Fitness Survey results show that health and fitness continues to be a popular industry to work in – once you’re working in it – and respondents were keen to progress their career within the industry.

This is great news for an industry with historically reported retention challenges. So what can we do to tackle the recruitment challenges?

My advice, let’s utilise the current climate and find a way to attract more people who are highly qualified, with the skills we need for the continual development and success of the industry.  It’s well publicised that graduates are out there looking to start their careers – let’s help them.

Amongst those taking part is British basketball star Luol Deng, who has admitted he is relishing the opportunity to play on home soil. The 24-year-old started his basketball career in Brixton as a nine year old before moving to America to play high school basketball and being drafted in by the Chicago Bulls.

While returning to your home town having become a star overseas may be a fairy story for some, the opportunities for the further development of British basketball stars are improving, and young talent won’t have to move abroad to gain access to top quality coaching while studying.

Last week English Basketball celebrated the launch of the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) for Basketball following a year long trial. The AASE programme combines high calibre coaching for top athletes while they continue their education, meaning that those who don’t manage to make the grade at the highest level still have qualifications to fall back on.

Back in February we visited one of the pilot projects at Southend College, as part of our filming for the AASE celebration events, and as we recently mentioned they have also hosted cameras for the Extra Time programme on Sky Sports. The show provides a good background to the growth of basketball in this country, and how AASE will help our young athletes further. You can view the programme below:

If you want to find out more about AASE, check out the pages over on our website: www.skillsactive.com/AASE

A few weeks ago, REPs encountered some opposition in a Daily Mail report which questioned the credibility of personal trainers. The report cast doubt on the standards set by the Register and the quality of training and expertise held by personal trainers working in our gyms and health clubs.

Although the report omitted some important facts – leaving it open to interpretation – the story raised key issues and illustrated just how important it is to ensure your personal trainer or fitness instructor is a member of REPs.

REPs is an independent public register which recognises the qualifications and expertise of exercise instructors in the UK. It provides a system of regulation for instructors and trainers to ensure that they meet the health and fitness industry’s agreed national occupational standards.

Membership of REPs aims to provide assurance and confidence to consumers, employers and health professions that all registered exercise professionals are appropriately qualified and have the knowledge, competence and skills to perform specific roles. Members are acknowledged for their professionalism, their adherence to the industry’s nationally recognised standards and their ongoing education. They are also bound by a Code of Ethics and hold appropriate public liability insurance. In order to remain on the Register, members must continue to meet the standards that are set for their profession through continued professional development (CPD).

However, REPs membership is not a statutory requirement for those working in the fitness industry, which is why we so often hear stories of personal training ‘gone wrong’. Anyone in the UK can in fact set themselves up as a personal trainer and carry out fitness sessions with individuals who may suffer from a range of chronic injuries or even serious medical conditions – all of which can be exacerbated through poorly designed exercise.

The Register seeks to minimise such harm by setting standards, but like any industry watchdog, it is not fool proof. Regrettably, there may always be a small minority of professionals working in any industry who act carelessly and fail members of the public. REPs works hard to minimise such cases in the fitness industry and the more aware members of the public are of the Register, the more effective it can become at protecting them.

You can find out more about REPs from their website www.exerciseregister.org.

Apprenticeships have long been hailed as a key solution in ensuring the work readiness of young people and remain a key part of the government’s strategy to increase the skills and competitiveness of the UK economy.  It is therefore a cause for concern that nationally the number of young people starting apprenticeships has dropped over the past year.

The fall indicates substantial challenges ahead, especially given new government targets which outline that around 1 in 5 of all 16-18 year olds should be participating in apprenticeship programmes by 2020.

If young people are to be engaged in apprenticeships across a range of industries, we must address the fundamental barriers that prevent participation.  Recent research undertaken by SkillsActive reveals that although employer engagement is a key barrier to take up, there is a range of supporting issues that must also be addressed if the problem is to be resolved.

For the active leisure and learning sector to be successful in achieving apprenticeship targets we must ensure greater employer and provider engagement but also raise the profile of the sector and the apprenticeship pathway as a potential route for young people.  Intervention is required to clearly communicate the apprenticeship offer to ensure that all key parties have access to the right information so that they can make informed decisions (i.e. young people, their parents/guardians, advisors, employers and providers)

We must ensure fair access to information, advice and guidance about apprenticeships and careers in sectors outside of the traditional mainstream options.  In particular, we must improve knowledge of the active leisure and sector, ensuring that those offering advice have the skills and confidence to deliver advice on the sector and/or have access to experts that can give more tailored advice. Remaining aware of the resource restrictions of IAG, we need to explore measures to support the delivery of impartial and quality advice for all key parties and not just young people.

Finally, we must encourage greater employer engagement by addressing the key concerns of the sector (e.g. candidate suitability, perceived burden and risk and financial issues).

A full copy of the research report and evaluation report for a South West engagement model can be found on the SkillsActive website.

SkillsActive are working closely with employers and training providers to increase the availability and take up of apprenticeships, but we are always interested in hearing your views and ideas on what can be done increase participation.

As outline in the 2020 Children’s and Young People’s Workforce Strategy published in 2008, the Department for Children, Schools and Families announced a ‘refresh’ of the common core to examine the content and extent of implementation of these skills and knowledge, bring it up to date and making sure it is relevant, user-friendly and used by more people in the children’s workforce.

The Active Leisure and Learning Sector is one of the biggest sectors working with children and young people. Playwork aside, sport, fitness and the outdoors all have participation from children and young people and specific targets to get more of them engaged with physical activity and the outdoors. This is particularly relevant through the government’s specific social cohesion, obesity and grassroots agendas – engaging children and young people are high on the agenda at every level.

Through our role of ensuring we have the right people with the right skills to deliver across the active leisure sector, we have made sure that the current common core principles are embedded within national occupational standards – the competencies that job roles are based on. Meaning that those working in the sector should have the skills, qualification and knowledge required to do so. However, as the sector develops, so must the skills and training of the workforce. With this in mind, SkillsActive is working with key partners across the children’s workforce running a series of consultations to ensure that the common core skills and knowledge are appropriately updated.

It is crucial that employers and practitioners from sport, fitness, the outdoors, and caravan industry’s, as well as the playwork sector, have their say in these consultations, in order to influence the refreshed outcomes and provide a common core which is accessible and meaningful for those working with children and young people in the sector, so they can provide the best possible service for children and young people using their facilities and services.

For more information, or to take part in the consultation process, visit: www.skillsactive.com/commoncore. This is your chance to influence the future of the sector when it comes to children and young people.

REPs is a register of qualified personal trainers and fitness instructors who have all met agreed National Occupation Standards developed by SkillsActive – the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Learning. More than 28,000 individuals are on the Register – the largest membership based register in the world.

REPs was set up in 2002 to regulate people working in the fitness industry and to safe-guard the health of people like Dawn. The Register has strict entry guidelines developed in partnership with the industry and everyday turns away trainers and instructors who do not meet the standards. However, REPs membership is not a statutory requirement for those working in the fitness industry, which is why stories like Dawn’s are so common. It is true that anyone in the UK can set themselves up as a personal trainer and it is also true that these unregistered trainers and instructors carry out fitness sessions with individuals who may suffer from a range of chronic injuries or even serious medical conditions – all of which can be exacerbated through poorly designed exercise. And although the Register seeks to minimise risk by setting standards, it is not full proof. Like any industry – even the medical profession – there are professionals who act carelessly and fail members of the public. REPs works hard to minimise such cases in the fitness industry and the more aware members of the public are of the Register, the more effective it can become at protecting them.

It is also important to note here that personal trainers are not out to “wreck your health”; in fact, they aspire to do the exact opposite. They help millions of people around the UK everyday get fit, lose weight, reduce stress, rehabilitate and prolong their lives. They contribute to government agendas to combat obesity and they reduce the pressure on the public health purse by improving the health of the nation. Alarmingly, in the past six months the number of people reporting that they never exercise has increased from 11 to 14 per cent and of those that do, less than a third exercise four times a week or more. Furthermore, the percentage of adults who are doing the government-recommended 30 minutes of exercise each session has fallen significantly from 34 to 29 per cent. I believe Tuesday’s article not only misrepresents the fitness industry, but it was irresponsible as well. The media should not be giving Britons any more excuses not to exercise and instead, be encouraging members of the public to be more aware of the skills, qualifications and training required by the people that prescribe them physical activity.

There is no doubt that REPs has been a major catalyst in the professionalisation and up skilling of personal trainers and fitness instructors. When the Register was set up, there was no nationally recognised structure to regulate people working in the fitness industry and to safe-guard the health of people like Dawn Elliot. Now, everyone from highly qualified instructors working with cardiac rehabilitation patients to keep-fit teachers running classes in a village hall can be professionally recognised by joining the Register. It is my vision that all trainers and instructors aspire to gain entry on the Register and that the public are sufficiently aware of those that do not.

I first arrived in Canberra on Friday 14^th August and my journey over seemed to never end.  From Bournemouth – Gatwick – Dubai – Singapore – Brisbane, then waited for six hours at the airport for my next flight on Qantas.  I flew then to Canberra and straight to bed when I go to my B & B.  The weekend was rest and recovery and Sunday night I met up with the boys from Parkeon, one of my sponsors, who took me out for a meal in the City.  Canberra is a strange city, it is so incredibly beautiful, but yet so small.  There are a little over 350,000 people living in the city, although I have no idea where they were, as it always seemed so quiet.  Walking round the city I wondered how all the businesses could be sustained with sales and paying out rent, rates, stock etc.

On Monday my first meeting was with the Australian Institute of Sport.  It was a little out of the city in an area where there was plenty of land.  The place itself is huge, offering tours round the facility with athletes for the tourists that come and visit.  Athletes can live on site for short or long stay, they can also study at university and use the facilities whenever they like.  However in order to receive this kind of treatment they have to be on the Australian World Class Program.  Dave Pease met me and kindly showed me around the Aquatic Research & Testing Unit, a place where they have developed all their own technology and use it to analyse the swimmers.  It truly was sensational and I can see how and why their swimmers are at the forefront of the sport – for the time being anyway. 

I had the opportunity to chat with Dave and he answered many questions and concerns for me about swimming in the UK, however I must add with Michael Scott on board at British Swimming, I really think we are going to see massive developments to elite swimming in the UK.  This is something the Aussies are concerned about as many people who work at the AIS tend to jump ship and come and work in the UK.  After I had finished with Dave he took me to meet Greg Shaw, a senior athlete nutritionist.  Greg spent time with me showing me the structure and support in place for educating swimmers at youth level in nutrition and explained exactly how they do it.  He also told me about a scheme they have running for school children too,  something I was fascinated with. 

After Greg I also met with Julian Jones Head of Strength & Conditioning for the AIS.  This was a very interesting meet for me seeing as one of my main focuses is strength & conditioning.  I showed him an example of a brochure I had given to me, by someone high up in a swimming related company, of exercises to help improve core stability.  When I was given it I laughed and thought it was very poor considering it came from a high level company.  When I showed it to Julian he laughed too and told me that we should keep this document in place for the kids, because it means to them we will never beat them at swimming.  Something I found very amusing.  However, it has now inspired me and also given me the confidence to approach them about doing something much better.  Since coming away from the AIS I have been completely inspired and now have a number of ideas that I am going to implement when I get back to the UK.

The following day I headed out to Swimming Australia where I met with Tim Arnold.  He spent a great deal of time with me explaining about how the sporting structure works in Australia and where swimming fits in to everything.  He was extremely helpful and again demonstrated a fantastic support network for swimming right from grass roots level through to elite.  This to me was valuable information, as before I came to Australia I believed they had a fantastic support infrastructure in place and this was confirmed.

The Wednesday was my last day in Canberra and my flight to Brisbane was leaving at 11am.  This was just enough time to swing on by ABC Canberra Radio Station for my LIVE interview with Alex Sloan.  This was a follow up interview, as I had already chatted with Alex before, although I have to say I wasn’t expecting to go out live on the radio.  However I managed it and coped with it just fine.  On my way to the airport I heard Alex read out some of the text messages that had come in after my interview, which was great to hear as it seems people are interested in what I am up to.

The weather was warm and sunny in Brisbane, 26 degrees to be exact, which is great seeing as this is their Winter.  I picked up a hire car from the airport and then Thursday I headed down the coast to visit Surf Australia, which is tucked away in a fantastic beach resort.  I guess I was expecting to see fantastic things when I got to Surf Australia.  They had told me about their High Performance Centre and after seeing fantastic facilities at the AIS I was expecting a little too much.  Their facilities is just a 25m swimming pool and a large gymnasium that’s open to residents, as well as elite surfers. 

Having said that, I shouldn’t put them down, because what I found out about them is that they too have a fantastic structure and network in place for surfers from learn to surf through to World Class Athletes, and what they do is incredible, seeing as they get very little funding.  Because surfing is not an Olympic sport their funding is massively reduced and they still manage to produce the some of the best surfers in the world.  I picked up what I needed from here and will pass back to the British Surfing Association.

On Friday was another meeting, however this time with the Queensland Academy of Sport.  Well what can I say truly lovely people and again amazing facilities.  I was shown around their centre and their rehabilitation unit, which again is second to none.  They have some of the world’s finest athletes who come through their centre and what they do for these athletes is inspirational.  They help them get back on their feet either after injury or if they need to find work or study.  The QAS work closely with the athletes and are always there for them.  Something I felt was commendable. 

Whilst there I met a young male long jumper who will be at the next Commonwealth Games and also a female High Jumper who should be at the London 2012 Olympics.  I was introduced to a great guy who is Head of Strength & Conditioning for the Queensland Swimming Team and I learnt so much from him.  He is a Doctor in his profession and was able to answer my questions of concern about some of my young athletes.  Again a truly inspirational character and a thoroughly nice guy!  Lawrie Fabian showed me around the facilities and passed me a contact for a head coach in the UK, as he felt he would benefit from using the Young Athletes Training Academy, it just so happens this head coach is based at Poole Swim Club.  Right on my doorstep!  Can you believe it I travel 12,000 miles across the globe and am given a contact in my own town? How fantastic is that?  Lawrie should be coming to the UK next year on his own research mission.  Lawrie was telling me that for years all the other countries have admired the Australians success at sport and have often come over and taken back new ideas to implement in their own country.  Apparently the Australians feel they are being left behind, so are running their own research projects now!

The weather this weekend has been scorching hot and I have taken some time out to catch up on work and on my tan   In Queensland they are having a heat wave and tomorrow (Monday) will be the hottest day on record so far.  Tomorrow is a new day and I have a last minute appointment with Swimming Queensland and also a meeting with the editor for the Brisbane Times.  Stay tuned for more info…

Bygglelegeplads/building play yard

In my visit to Denmark, I was able to visit two different free time homes.  Free time homes offer out of school childcare for children. The first free time home was in Aarhus, named Skraenten and was situated down a sandy road (the name Skraenten means a ditch). This free time home was open from 11:00am until 5:00pm and could have 150 children. The facilities available included a large house used more in winter, and a range of outdoor space and outdoor opportunity.

Bygglelegeplads: Inside the childrens play space.

The children came from age seven. Some children were able to make their own way from school and some children were collected from school. Animals and adventure play were prominent characteristics of this free time home.

There were rabbits, goats and chickens that belonged to the children, an area for outdoor cooking,  and across the sandy road an area where the children built with wood and tools, and played in their creations.The children in this provision had a mass of space in which they could freely access, inside the house as well as the outdoor environment. This project was inspirational in the way that they presented after school childcare for children.

Central play room

The second free time home I visited was in Esjberg and was based in school, for around 80 children.  Although the children did not have access to adventure play and animals as in Skreanten, the children had a variety of spaces that they could use indoors and out. The children were able to move to different rooms and levels. Freedom, choice and space to move around were prominent in this free time home also.

From both of my visits to free time homes, it seems to be evident that in Denmark the children have great access to risk and challenge through their ability to use tools and to be in spaces where no adults are present to adulterate their play.  Their play spaces seem to be truly their own.

Younger children's playroom

The Extra Time programme visited Southend in June to take in a GB U20 warm up match for July’s U20 European Championships, covering a local school sports basketball competition coached and refereed by AASE players prior to the international game, as well as capturing exclusive interviews with the GB Team’s U20 coach Tim Lewis, and AASE coordinator for Essex Ian Mollard.

You can see the programme on Sky Sports 1 on Monday 17 August at 5pm, with repeats at 7pm on Sky Sports 3 later that day and 1pm (SS3) and 2.30pm (SS2) on Tuesday 18 August. We’ve had a sneak preview, and it is a fantastic feature on the AASE programme and how it is benefiting British Basketball, so watch out for it. If you do miss it, we hope to be able to bring you the footage here on the SkillsActive blog afterwards.

You can see some of the AASE basketball players in action and interviewed in February’s video below, around the 3:50 mark:

On Tuesday 11th August, at 8:30am I arrived at Børnehaven Ajstrup Gl. Skole (child’s garden) which was a kindergarten for Danish children aged 3 to 6 years. The meeting place was in Aarhus, where parents dropped off their children. Some children played, and some had breakfast. The parents were welcome to have coffee and have a chat, and the staff were so  friendly. It was a welcoming social space. This provision makes space for 120 children in total. Three buses were scheduled to arrive at 8:00am, 9:00am and10:00am to take the children and the staff to Ajstrup – 17km away.

Children playing in the garden (Courtesy Ajstrup website)

After my short visit to the meeting place and upon sitting on the bus, I felt overwhelmed at how fantastic this provision felt already – but it doesn’t end there! Upon arriving at Ajstrup, we were greeted by Christian who gave us a history of the provision, and he showed us around the outdoor area. There were chickens, rabbits, and horses. The children helped clean and care for the animals. The children were surrounded by nature, and had the day to be in their own space, do their own thing and play in their own way. The children were happy, ran around freely, and could access whatever part of the outdoors they wished to; a large sand area with a tap nearby for mixing, a garden with berries and herbs, wooden houses and huts, trees to climb, rocks to sit on, wooden structures to explore and play with. These are just some examples of the endless open ended play opportunities at Ajstrup.

Lunchtime was a fantastic social occasion. I was able to eat with the children and the staff. The children decided when it was time to eat, and could do anytime from 11:30am until 1:00pm. The staff carefully monitored this so they knew which children needed to eat. Lunchtime was freely in a variety of open spaces and children came naturally together with friends and the staff, ate, chat  and then ran off to play again!

Children in the sandpits (photo courtesy Ajstrup website)

Afternoon observations included a boy digging in mud with a spade, barefooted covered in mud, but totally engrossed in his play. Two girls were transporting soil in wellington boots, near to to a puddle of water on a piece of plastic. They made a pile of soil, paddled in the puddle and stepped in the soil pile to make muddy feet! They laughed and giggled, stepped in the puddle to wash it off, and started the game again!

The buses arrived to take the children back to the meeting place at 2:30pm and 3:30pm. I got the bus back to Aarhus at 3:30pm, and felt drained by the amount of informaton I had taken in, yet excited and inspired by what I had seen and explored.

I watched my slide show of around 150 photographs in the evening,  and again was overwhelmed by the positive experiences, independence, and confidence that the children were given by play opportunities outdoors with nature.

My day at  Børnehaven Ajstrup Gl. Skole was amazing. My thanks to the staff and the children, who made me feel so welcome.

To my joy Lush, a global cosmetic company came forward with the remaining money and generously the Borough of Poole and Poole Tourism has also donated some money.  As I managed to raise a little more money than required the remaining money has bought me clothing with all my sponsors logos on them and a tripod and microphone also for my trip – more on this will be explained later.

The meetings in Australia have now expanded and I have also gained further interest from the press in Canberra.  I decided to make contact with ABC 666 Canberra Radio and a producer from Alex Sloan’s morning show came back to me and said they would love to interview me on the telephone before I arrived and then get me in to the studio when I am in Canberra.  This is fantastic, as it means I am able to spread the word globally about my project! So on Thursday 30^th July I carried out an interview with the radio station, which can be listened to here: Rachel Light interview.

Since Lush has kindly sponsored me, they too are working hard on obtaining press during my trip.  At the moment I am in liaison with their UK press office to arrange this.  It is also pretty big news for Parkeon too, another sponsor of mine, as at the moment they are getting ready to deploy a contactless electronic ticketing system using smartcard technology for the process of charging patrons for public transport.  Smartcard has already been deployed in Perth the only thing different for Canberra is they have no rail system.  Bizarrely my younger brother is a programmer for Parkeon in Poole, and the guy I am meeting with in Canberra used to be my brother’s boss.

Another piece of great news is a few weeks ago my mum suggested I should look in to a cameraman filming my trip seeing as I am having a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet with all these fantastic organisations in Australia.  I therefore made contact with Channel 4 and Sky to see if it was anything they would be interested in.  Unfortunately Sky came back and said they are already supporting many projects and they did not have the budget.  However Channel 4 suggested I contact a production company to see if it would be something of interest to them, as Channel 4 use production companies to make documentaries.  They sent me a link for a directory of production companies and a came across a company who have been absolutely amazing!  Glasshead, based in London, are interested in my trip and also in my plight to improve education and training on health and fitness to young athletes in the UK.  A lovely lady Faye called me and has told me Glasshead are working with SkillsActive already and looking to put together a production for the Olympics and this could fit it.  HOW AMAZING IS THAT!

Unfortunately because of the short notice they are unable to send a camera person with me for my trip, so I have been loaned a camera from Sport England and will have to film myself.  Now I am no camera person and have no idea what I am doing with a camera, let alone made it any good for TV.  I therefore arranged to meet with a freelance news reporter, Richard Slee, who runs his own company called  Look out Media and well, what can I say, a truly kind man who spent nearly two hours with me talking to me about my project and how best to film, shots to take and what will happen when I return.  He has also said he will help me get my story on to the local news.  Now the pressure is really on!  Best get good with that camera…  I’ve spent the last few days filming everything and I’ve still got so much to learn!

Once again I would like to say thank you to all my sponsors:

• Lush
• Parkeon
• British Surfing Association
• SkillsActive/Nancy Ovens Trust
• Borough of Poole
• Poole Tourism
• John Maughan
• Talbot Heath
• Animal
• Sport England
• Young Athletes Training Academy
• Four friends Melissa King, Russell Palmer, Peter Light (younger brother), Janet Head

I would also like to say a massive THANK YOU to my mum, who has been so supportive to me, listened to me and helped me to stay strong and focused.

Only 5 days to go now. Stay tuned for more news…

During my play and playwork degree at Northumbria University I was inspired by the way the Danish children had access to risk and the outdoors, through forest schools and adventure playground. Thanks to my successful application for a Nancy Ovens Bursary, I am now able to visit Denmark and see these sites in action. I will be leaving for Denmark on the 10th August, and will staying in Arhus for three nights, Esjberg for two nights and Copenhagan for one night before I return on the 16th August.

The links below are to two of the settings that I am visiting. Take a moment to look as there seems to be a clear difference in what the majority of children in England and what these children in Denmark are experiencing.

www.ajstrup.dk (A forest school)

www.byggeren.dk (An adventure playground)

On my visit I will be taking extensive notes and photographic/video evidence so watch this space for a full report on my return!

In principle this all sounds positive, with the timescale planned to avoid putting additional bureaucratic burdens on voluntary sector summer play schemes, and a one off fee of between £58 and £64 (free to volunteers). However there will be new obligations on employers, starting with a duty to refer to the new Independent Safeguarding Authority any information about individuals who may pose a risk, and it will become a criminal offence for an employer to take on an individual in regulated activity if they fail to check that person’s status, or to allow a barred individual, or an individual who is not yet registered with the ISA, to work for any length of time in any regulated activity. Employers will need to re-examine their child protection policies and make sure they and their staff are aware of their new responsibilities.

The  scheme is aimed at identifying and monitoring those who mean children harm, I think employers will need to ensure their safeguarding and protecting policies and procedures on recruitment are well thought out and up to date. Playwork employers need to be clear that the scheme does not impact on their ability to offer challenging and adventurous play opportunities; it is not a call to return to the days of wrapping children in cotton wool. The word ‘risk’ when referred to in the context of the vetting and barring scheme is referring to the risk posed by individuals who work with children as opposed to the opportunities provided within play settings.

Employers will need to plan for the scheme’s introduction, SkillsActive will produce a briefing paper for the playwork sector highlighting key points and advising on how to incorporate the changes. We would encourage the sector to considering investing in the activepassport scheme and plan for workforce development, and membership of SkillsActive to act as a representative voice for employers.

The term quango is widely used; however I was deeply concerned to hear Sector Skills Councils being referred to in this way by ill-informed spokespeople who clearly hadn’t done their research.

Sector Skills Councils are independent organisations licensed by government – we are a charity and a membership body. We are very much led by employers and our work is solely directed by an employer-strong board made up of representatives from across our sector. In fact, we are the only organisation that operates within the sport and active leisure sector that addresses the skills and productivity needs in sport, fitness, playwork, the outdoors and caravan industries.

Being licensed by government is a pre-requisite for all Sector Skills Councils. Through this licence, government buys a service from an organisation that meets specific criteria, and being employer led means that we can speak with authority to government departments about the skills needs, funding issues and general landscape of our sector. We can, and do, lobby government departments on behalf of employers as we know what the real issues are, and yes like quangos, we are seen as the experts in this field and we are not a government department; however unlike quangos, our work is directed by employers, and we are not fully supported by government funding.    

It’s important for me that people understand our status, we do not want to be seen as yet another government directed organisation that doesn’t know what its like on the ground. We do, we’ve done the research, and we’re out meeting employer’s everyday. We are developing solutions – such as the National Skills Academy – to ensure the sector has access to the best training provision, at the best price. We’re working with a sector that is primarily made up of micro and small businesses and we’re brokering funding on their behalf. We’re producing workforce development tools that help to build a well trained and professional workforce that deliver a quality service. We’re working across those many partner organisations that have a foot in the door of our sector, and we’re ensuring that they – through us – support more people, being more active, more often, so that the sector can grown, become sustainable and excel.

In short, we ensure that more people are better skilled to deliver the active leisure and learning agenda for benefit of the health and well-being of the nation, and that those people hold the qualifications that employers value. And that’s not the role of a quango.

I currently work as a volunteer fitness coach and personal trainer for the Young Athletes Training Academy (YATA), a new company set up in Dorset to offer increased support and education for children in sport.  YATA has very little money and all the money the company earns go back in to the company to help offer increased services and facilities for children in sport in Dorset. 

It is apparent there is very little in the way of support in the UK for children in sport and many clubs, from my experience in Dorset, are crying out for additional funds to help with improving the fitness and strength abilities of children in sport.  After much research and many appointments with key sport divisions in the UK it appears our country offers nothing at grass roots level.  This of course got me thinking that perhaps if we were to educate and support our children from a young age in sport, we might have a better opportunity to produce more and more world class athletes. 

At the moment many children drop out of sport and this could be for many reasons such as injury and lack of interest.  If children were educated from a young age in to how their body works and why things such as stretching and diet are so important, I believe our children will have a much better opportunity in sport.  Most of these children in sport are incredibly dedicated and our country lets them down by not offering them a chance to develop to world class levels.  Of course there are facilities and support available to elite athletes, but you have to be identified to receive these benefits and that is very difficult.  See www.yatasports.com for more information on what services the Young Athletes Training Academy offers.

Australia is streets ahead in sport and they consistently produce world class athletes from all sports.  I initially decided to run a comparison study on swimming and after looking in to briefly what Australia does for their swimmers, they have a much more in depth coaching system and train less hours in the pool and more on the land.  This way of training has inspired me to think that perhaps they are on to something here.  So I therefore started to make arrangements with Swimming Australia and British Swimming to compare training schemes, systems etc.  To date I have met with Michael Scott from British Swimming who was extremely helpful and supportive, the information he provided me however will be detailed later in my report and is only geared towards elite athletes and nothing for the younger athletes.  Mr Scott suggested I meet with Nick Sellwood from English Swimming to help, however this does appear to be very difficult, as Mr Sellwood is never available to meet with me which is a real disappointment seeing as everyone else is very supportive.

The bursary I was awarded only contributed to 25% of the money I require to visit Australia, so I therefore have had to find the money from elsewhere.  Because the Young Athletes Training Academy has no money to support my trip the only way I can go is to reach out to other companies for sponsorship and in this particular climate it has proved extremely difficult.  However I believe in my trip and my project so much I have done everything in my power to make this trip happen.  Unfortunately British Swimming and the ASA have not contributed any money to my trip, which is a shame seeing as initially the whole basis of my trip is about swimming.  They have said all their money goes to the regional governing bodies.  This is fair enough and I appreciate donating £500 to my trip is just not affordable for them…

Recently the Young Athletes Training Academy has become involved with the British Surfing Association and has started to work with them on occasional strength and conditioning, as well as personal training services to their young athlete surfers.  After many conversations, the BSA have agreed to fund part of the trip in return I make appointments with key surfing organisations to discuss their Long Term Athlete Development Plan.  When I return from Australia the information I have obtained will be used in developing the UK LTAD for the BSA.

My trip to Australia and the reasons for going has raised quite a bit of interest locally.  After I was awarded the bursary I featured in two local publications and was interviewed by the BBC for Radio Solent and also the website.  This has aided my plight for raising more funds and the local council, Borough of Poole, also got involved.  My contact there, Duncan Kerr, has been working extremely hard for me by taking my sponsorship proposal to many different companies.  It caught the eye of one company in particular – Parkeon – a large international manufacturing firm with offices in Australia.  They are extremely interested in my work for children in sport and decided to offer further funding to help my trip to Australia.  Further funds have now been raised from the following:

• Talbot Heath School
• The father of one of my clients Amelia Maughan, the fastest 12 year old swimmer in the world at this time.
• Two friends Melissa King and Russell Palmer
• And Animal clothing are providing me with clothing to raffle off and luggage for my trip

I am still to raise a little more money, but even so I now have a majority of the money and have managed to book flights, accommodation and pay for my visa.

I would like to thank all of my sponsors including the Nancy Ovens Trust/Skills Active, for supporting me, without your generous contributions my trip would not be possible.

My two week trip in Australia has just got bigger and bigger.  I am now no longer focusing on swimming alone and I have many different appointments booked with fantastic sporting organisations, all of whom seem to be extremely helpful and only too happy to help.

My current itinerary exists of the following:

• Wednesday 12^th Aug: leave the UK.  Change flights at Dubai, Singapore, and Brisbane
• Friday 14^th Aug: arrive Canberra, Australia (Rest and Recovery over the weekend)
• Monday 17^th Aug: meet with the Australian Institute of Sport
• Monday evening meet: with Canberra Times, who are running a feature story on me
• Tuesday 18^th Aug: meet with Swimming Australia
• Tuesday evening: meet with Parkeon Press officer
• Wednesday 19^th Aug: morning fly to Brisbane
• Thursday 20^th Aug: drive to Surfing Australia and meet to discuss their LTAD and visit their high performance centre
• Friday 21^st Aug: meet with Queensland Government to discuss sporting opportunities
• Friday 21^st Aug: afternoon meet with Brisbane Broncos (Rugby Team) watch them train and visit their high performance centre
• Friday 21^st Aug: evening meet with Brisbane Times, who are also running a feature story on my visit
• Monday 24^th Aug: spend the day with Michael Bohl and Stephanie Rice (triple Olympic gold medallist)
• Tuesday 25^th Aug: catch up day and any additional appointments add here
• Wednesday 26^th Aug: fly home to the UK

As you can see my diary and trip to Australia is not only extremely busy, but very very exciting and I cannot wait to go.  I am going to learn so much whilst I am away and really believe when I return to the UK I can make a MASSIVE difference to young athletes in the UK.

Please keep reading my blog for further news and developments of what is happening!  Only 4 weeks and 3 days to go…

View the video below:

With that said, the world of skills and education has been changing over the past few weeks, prompted by the reshuffle in Westminster. The government has merged the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (previously known as BERR), with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). The resulting new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is charged with building Britain’s capacity to compete in a global economy.

For the first time, this new department puts together skills, FE, HE and business development all under the same umbrella and recognises the need to have employers, colleges and universities closer aligned at a government level – something Sector Skills Councils have lobbied for since their inception six years ago. This new department puts employers where they should be – at the very heart of education reform and policy making.

So what does that mean for our industry? Well, we’re not entirely sure of the details; however we should recognise that there is a huge opportunity for the sector. For a start, we finally have a doorway to discuss vocational skills development aligned with academic qualifications, Apprenticeships are recognised as part of business and innovation, and skills development is now visibly at the heart of government thinking. We are an industry that needs the highly technical vocational skills to operate, combined with the more academic skills in leadership and management to succeed. Not forgetting that the training and qualifications available need to reflect this, and be eligible for public funding.

We can be encouraged by this new department’s remit to deliver on the government’s ambitious objectives to expand the number of Apprenticeships available. Despite the negative stories in the press recently, last month the government announced it will fund a £1.9m Apprenticeship Expansion programme in our sector, led by our National Skills Academy, and will recruit, train, place and mentor over 1,400 people in the next two years.

So the outlook is positive, it seems that the new department will be positioned to guide us through the economic turbulence, and we’re confident that the sector can once again prove resolute as the economy responds to the current downturn. As always, we will continue to work closely with employers across the sector to encourage the continued development of staff and investment in training at this time.

Volunteers are at the heart of most sports clubs

Sport England recently reported on their quarterly results for their Active People Survey, which provides the largest  survey of sport and active recreation undertaken in Europe. While the headline results showed promise, with 6,822,000 people (16 and over) now playing sport three times a week and regular participation holding firm since December 2008, as well as satisfaction with local sports provision increasing, there were some worrying trends including a decrease in volunteering.

Could it be that volunteering, along with competitive participation and membership, has suffered from the current economic environment?

With less disposable income it seems that participation in sporting activities, whether as a competitor or volunteer, is one of the things that suffers. A recent Times article, based on research by the CCPR, suggested that the recession could mean the final whistle for 6,000 community sports clubs due to falling membership.

The CCPR research noted that “volunteering is also being affected by the economic downturn, with more than a fifth of clubs saying that the circumstances have had a negative or very negative impact on attracting and retaining volunteers “.

Within our sector, volunteers play a crucial role in delivering activities across sport and active leisure, with volunteer hours equivalent to over 50,000 full time roles. These roles  can range from the obvious ones such as coaches and officials to many more roles behind the scenes such as those who maintain equipment or look after the finances.  One of the key barriers to volunteering, particularly in the front-line roles, is often the cost of training. With both clubs and volunteers currently suffering from a lack of funds this obviously impacts upon maintaining both the number of volunteers and their skills.

SkillsActive often plays a part in directing funding into the sector, and support a number of bursaries and projects which help those in the sector in funding their development. Our London and South West coaching bursaries were a huge success and there are a number of bursaries to coaches still available in some regions. In the East of England  the East-Links: Leading the Field programme provides opportunities in fitness and officiating as well as targeting coaches. Meanwhile in playwork, there is funding available for playworkers to undertake level 3 qualifications, allowing advancement of skills for those in or looking to join the sector.

For more information on volunteering, whether in sport or other areas, Volunteering England have a whole host of information on their website with a large section dedicated to sport. 

If you’ve seen the impact of the recession on volunteering, share your views below.

Rachel Light helping young athletes

This has encouraged development in ways quite removed from traditional training, with work experience and shadowing of top coaches in a certain field proving a popular way to glean the personal insight that perhaps doesn’t exist when undertaking a training qualification.

This year, out of over 50 applicants, we are delighted to have chosen five bursars who will be blogging for us over the course of their time on the bursary. They’ll be introducing themselves here over the coming month, but here is a quick introduction to two of them.

Rachel Light
Dorset swimming coach Rachel Light plans to spend two weeks in Australia this summer to discover the secrets of the nation’s sporting success so that she can assist top young athletes in this country.

Rachel has focussed her work on, and is particularly passionate about, those just outside of the elite sporting programmes. It is difficult for those just outside the top programmes to continue at a high level, so Rachel assists by providing them with guidance ranging from nutrition to strength and conditioning that they would otherwise receive from their NGB.

Judo coach Mike Newton

Read more about Rachel’s bursary here and check back over the coming months to see how her plans for the trip progress. You can also listen to Rachel discussing her trip, and read more, over on the BBC Dorset website.

Mike Newton
Rutland judo coach Mike Newton plans to spend a month next spring in Japan, the home of judo, in order to shadow top children’s judo coaches. Having helped establish Vale Judo Club in 2003, Mike has since established the club as one of the leading clubs in the region with members in national squads, as well as developing a strong schools judo programme.

You can read more about Mike’s dedication to the sport and youngsters, along with his planned trip to Japan here, while you’ll find him blogging here soon.

Apprentice candidate Lorraine Tighe lied on her CV but claimed it was a misprint

We recently commissioned research, released yesterday, that discovered that as a nation, we are mostly quite truthful on our CVs… until we need a job.

Following this, our Chief Executive Stephen Studd was in demand for interviews yesterday, which you can view on a number of news sites such as The Metro, the Mirror’s video news and Virgin Media.

Given last night’s dismissals on the TV show the Apprentice, where one of the contestants who Sir Alan Sugar fired, Lorraine Tighe, was accused of lying on her CV and admitted it was “like a graveyard of skeletons” it can be a serious issue. So what can employers do?

We can point towards ActivePassport as a solution for both employers recruiting staff, and candidates looking to ensure their credibility, as it offers a verified record of qualifications, training, employment and volunteering.

While our research found that hobbies were the most likely thing that those questioned would lie about, this was followed by salary and secondary education qualifications, which could certainly impact upon the recruitment process. We also discovered that the recession has sparked an increase in lies on CVs.

Do you think it’s acceptable to lie on your CV? Have you ever done it and would you be more tempted now because of the high unemployment rates? Take our quick poll or leave us a comment below to share your views.

Childcare is no longer registered under the Children Act 1989; it now falls under the Childcare Act 2006. The changes separate the regulation of under and over sixes to reflect the different needs of school aged and pre-school children. These changes have caused some confusion for employers, particularly in relation to the qualifications that are accepted by Ofsted, and therefore recognised on the Early Years Register – recognised within the Childcare Act.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) was charged by government to develop a set of criteria against which qualifications are assessed. This assessment determines whether qualifications are deemed ‘full and relevant’, and only then will they gain entry onto the Early Years Register.

The majority of playwork qualifications have passed the assessment and are recognised on the Early Years Register; and SkillsActive is now working to ensure that the new Diplomas in Playwork at level 2 and 3 meet this assessment before they are launched next year.

The Childcare Register – another core Register within the Childcare Act, requires all level 2 and 3 qualifications held by staff to be on the current National Qualifications Framework (NQF) However as the new Qualifications and Credit Framework takes shapes and supersedes the NQF over the next few months, SkillsActive is working to ensure all new Awards, Certificates and Diplomas at level 2 and 3 that are developed match any new regulations; and working with training providers and employers to ensure existing qualifications are up-to-date and relevant to ensuring recognition on the new Framework.

Currently there is no provision for a transitional arrangement covering holiday playschemes this year, following Ofsted’s refusal to recognise the Playwork Induction Standard, so employers who are unable to recruit qualified staff will need to consider how they might become exempt from registering on the Early Years Register in the interim.  Reluctantly, we would advise employers to consider taking only children of eight years or over or operating playschemes for less than two hours a day or for less than 14 days in the year until a replacement for the induction standard has been approved.

We are gathering information on the impact of the new registers on recruitment to holiday playschemes, and have devised a brief questionnaire for employers so they can share their views with us. If you are an employer, help us make the case for the playwork award at level 2 to be accepted for holiday playschemes on the Childcare Register, by visiting: www.skillsactive.com/survey/holidayplayschemes

The DCSF has no plans to establish a database listing appropriate qualifications for staff working in settings on the Childcare Register, but has confirmed that it is SkillsActive’s role to determine which qualifications were appropriate for staff in play settings. To this end DCSF has agreed that we will publish a list of qualifications on our website that playwork employers can consult when appointing staff to play provision and we are developing this at the moment.

Academic qualifications aren’t necessarily the route to entry though, the fact is that employers in the sector need recruits with vocational qualifications; these are certainly the bread and butter of the fitness industry, and what employers look for when they are recruiting new staff. And with budgets slashed and funds depleted, it is more important than ever that we ensure employers are doing all they can to attract, train and keep the right people working in the sector if it is to not only continue to weather this storm, but continue to develop, grow and thrive.

With this in mind, we have just launched the 2009 Working in Fitness survey for all those working in the health and fitness sector. The survey gives an insight into how the fitness sector rewards its workforce by examining salary levels, job satisfaction and spending on training and development. We know through our previous research, and despite the economic downturn, that there are an average of 8,500 job openings a year in the sector, to meet staff turnover and the creation of new positions. And one of the survey aims is to find out whether the industry is doing enough to attract new, as well as retain existing staff, to meet these demands.

The sector needs to retain a skilled workforce, and the Working in Fitness survey allows us to assess what employers are doing to encourage and support their staff development. Reward in terms of salary is always going to be an issue for the sector, but recognition need not be. Past results have indicated a pat on the back, support with training and encouragement for personal and professional development is sometimes all staff need to be satisfied in their role.

The survey allows us to get a good representation of jobs in the sector and to identify issues at a local level and where improvement is needed. Past results has informed the way we work with training providers, public and private, the way in which we’ve developed the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), and our ongoing development of national occupational standards – which inform training courses, qualifications and job roles in the sector. So you can rest assured we’re not just filing away the results in a drawer, they are informing the way we do business!

Increasing the number of people participating in physical activity and adopting an active lifestyle is the key to the health and well-being of the nation, and is an agenda shared with governments across the UK. We’re doing our upmost to ensure the workforce is skilled, professional and highly qualified.

To complete the 2009 Working in Fitness survey visit: www.skillsactive.com/wif09.