Athletic Development Knowledge Exchange
On Friday 16th May, 30 delegates of Athletic Development coaches, PE teachers and Directors of Sport from across the South-East came to Merchant Taylors’ for a Knowledge Exchange Event, hosted in conjunction with Leeds Beckett University.
The event focused on Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), and was designed to bring together like-minded professionals to share insights, problem-solve, and explore all things LTAD.
The discussions included:
- Evaluating where each school's programme stands in terms of health and fitness, physical performance, injury risk, and confidence/competence.
- Observing and reflecting on an example PE lesson at Merchant Taylors’, delivered through their Health and Wellbeing curriculum. The observation placed emphasis on going beyond the typical sport-by-sport approach in PE, highlighting locomotion, stabilisation, and manipulation skills.
- Sharing strategies to manage training loads more effectively, to reduce injury risk and promote sustainable development.
- Exploring the unique physiological, psychological, and social considerations when supporting the LTAD of female athletes in schools.
- Gym design considerations in a school context, complimented by a tour of the brand new fitness suite.
It was a productive day, marked by great collaboration and ideas. The unique model of PE we follow at Merchant Taylors' integrates Sport within the broader Health and Wellbeing curriculum, and is highly sought after by many other schools across the country. As a result, the delegates were particularly interested in the observation of the PE lesson, expertly taught by Mr. Richardson and Mr. Davies.
All attendees left the day with something they could apply in their own context. We are looking forward to similar events in the future. Thanks to all who made it possible.
The discussions included:
- Evaluating where each school's programme stands in terms of health and fitness, physical performance, injury risk, and confidence/competence.
- Observing and reflecting on an example PE lesson at Merchant Taylors’, delivered through their Health and Wellbeing curriculum. The observation placed emphasis on going beyond the typical sport-by-sport approach in PE, highlighting locomotion, stabilisation, and manipulation skills.
- Sharing strategies to manage training loads more effectively, to reduce injury risk and promote sustainable development.
- Exploring the unique physiological, psychological, and social considerations when supporting the LTAD of female athletes in schools.
- Gym design considerations in a school context, complimented by a tour of the brand new fitness suite.
It was a productive day, marked by great collaboration and ideas. The unique model of PE we follow at Merchant Taylors' integrates Sport within the broader Health and Wellbeing curriculum, and is highly sought after by many other schools across the country. As a result, the delegates were particularly interested in the observation of the PE lesson, expertly taught by Mr. Richardson and Mr. Davies.
All attendees left the day with something they could apply in their own context. We are looking forward to similar events in the future. Thanks to all who made it possible.