|
Playing for Success (Speech: 22/05/08) |
|
Kevin's speech at the Playing for Success Tenth Annual Conference
I’m very sorry I can’t be with you in person today to celebrate 10 years of Playing for Success. But I’m delighted to send you this message. With any anniversary, it’s only natural to look back. And it’s only then that you realise just how much the world has changed. When Playing for Success began ten years ago, two of the three top Premier League clubs involved were Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United…. Wembley Stadium still had its towers…. And my team, Cardiff City hadn’t been in an FA Cup Final since 1927. But it’s not just football where there has been dramatic change. Ten years ago, fewer than two thirds of 10 and 11 year olds left primary school with the required level in English and Maths. Now it’s close to eight out of ten. Ten years ago, fewer than half our young people achieved five or more higher level GCSE passes. Now it’s six out of ten. Making this country the best place for children and young people to grow up is the ambition of our Children’s Plan. And that means giving every child a world-class education and doing more to prevent any child falling behind, or failing to fulfil their potential because of learning difficulties, poverty or disadvantage. This is where Playing for Success is ahead of the game.By focussing on underachieving 9-14 year olds, and boosting the key skills they need to learn, it gets them back up to speed, and helps them use not lose vital years of their education. Since we included it in our manifesto back in 1997, it has grown beyond football to a total now of 18 sports. I’m delighted that from those first three pilot centres in Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle, we’ve now got more than 150 centres up and running, with more opening every month. More than a quarter of a million children have now benefited from the learning support, inspiration and challenge they get from Playing for Success. And a further 55,000 children sign up every year. But it’s not just a case of turning up. The evaluation shows that primary age pupils advance by up to 17 months after just a 10 week course – with secondary age children racing ahead even further by up to two years after the same 10 week course. But as I’ve seen from the centres that I’ve visited, this is about so much more than statistics. I believe passionately in the power of sport to transform young lives. Playing for Success is about helping children to believe in themselves – just the way the best coaches can get their athletes, footballers and rugby players to believe in themselves, and fulfil their potential. Parents have told me that their children burst through the front door, desperate to tell them what they have been doing. And of course, some of these are the same ones whose school day is often their best kept secret from their mum and dad. But that self-esteem can be symptomatic of a fresh, new attitude to learning – and they talk about what they can do rather than what they can’t or won’t. One of the best examples of inspiration I’ve seen was at Bath Rugby Club this year - where I was persuaded by pupils to join in the Haka. Playing for Success started with Premier League clubs but it doesn’t have to be a Premier League club to provide the wow factor. At Cambridge United, I saw that it’s the great facilities, and committed coaches which grab the attention of the children. That formula has also worked for other sports: Crown Green bowling in Bolton, linking young and old, and analysing skills with the latest technologies; speedway in Kings Lynn where children film the noise and excitement of races; or for tennis in Nottingham. This tenth anniversary mustn’t be a time when we just look back. We’ve already committed another £45m which means that Playing for Success will continue up to 2011. And I’m delighted that we’ve appointed Rex Hall Associates to take the helm of the Playing for Success programme development. I know how committed Rex has been since the start, and I look forward to hearing his plans and hopes. Because I want the next ten years to be playing for even greater success. I want to see even stronger links between PfS centres, sports clubs and schools so that the benefits are spread even more widely. I want to make sure that we listen to the children who go on the course, and to their parents, so that we can make them even better. And of course, what an opportunity we have with hosting the Olympics in 2012 – a chance to inspire a generation of young people to believe in themselves - and believe in our country. If you think what Playing for Success is achieving with 18 sports, imagine what we can do in 2012 when we have the best athletes in the world competing in hundreds of different sports - right on our doorstep. I want us to seize that opportunity. And I’m delighted that the Olympic Aquatic Centre in East London will be the 162nd Playing for Success centre: The links are starting to be made already. So, congratulations again on all your hard work and successes over the past ten years. But let’s make today the start of an even better second decade. |
