Article from Tchimes

NEWS FROM THE BOF NE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Due to increased funding from Sport England BOF has now been able to appoint Development Officers working part-time in each of the English regions.

I have been appointed to work 400 hours a year (equivalent to one day a week) in each of the North West and North East regions.

I have been in post since 1st July and have spent the time since then trying to make contact with key people in the clubs and the region and getting an overview of the level of activity and development needs.

The funding that has made the new appointments possible comes from DfES money through the PE School Sport Club Links programme (PESSCL). BOF has targets to meet concerning junior participation, BSOA membership, increasing numbers of accredited clubs and strengthening links between schools in School Sport Partnerships and accredited clubs. I will therefore be working to promote orienteering in schools, help clubs establish strong links with keen schools in their area, increase participation and membership by young people and their families, and support clubs working towards achieving Clubmark status.

CLOK is a club that is leading the way with its development work due to the sterling efforts of Mike, Jon and Elaine. As the club has already achieved Clubmark status, my principal focus with CLOK will be to support the development team in strengthening links with schools and to increase the numbers of young people making the transition from schools orienteering to mainstream orienteering (i.e. increase junior membership of the club).

One of the things that I feel many clubs need to think about is how they can make the transition from schools competitions to local 'mainstream' events and participation in the club's junior activities easier and smoother. For example, timing schools activities so that there is an easily accessible series of local training / evening events or CATIs starting just after the schools series ends and advertising club activities at schools / schools events and encouraging /inviting keen individuals along to club training. Getting to orienteering events is also an issue for young people. They rely on parents or teachers/leaders to drive them. It is therefore important to think about how we can keep the parents/teachers interested and involved. Could we provide activities for them instead of hanging around in the car park?

I have met and discussed many of these, and related issues with Mike and his team and have also been involved in formalising the link between CLOK and Laurence Jackson Sports College. When finalised, this will be the first official link between an accredited club and a School Sport Partnership in line with the new BOF targets. I will continue to work closely with the development team and will also be supporting Linda Thornton with her work with the North East Junior Squad.

Please get in contact with me if you wish to discuss any other development issues.

Heather Monro
6 Bromley Close, High Shincliffe, Durham, DH1 2TZ
Email:
Phone: 07749-493085

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