This month, CITC learnt about Harry’s story, a participant on the City Primary Schools programme.
When Harry first started the CITC sessions, he was very reluctant to join in, due to being overwhelmed by sounds and other participants. This caused Harry to miss out on the P.E lessons, which are vital in developing motor key skills.
Miss Miley, Harry’s teacher, sat down with CITC during a PLPS session, explaining the difficulties he faced at the start of the programme:
“Harry had limited confidence, struggled to follow instructions and found engaging with peers challenging, often requiring significant adult support to remain settled.”
“He was very reluctant and wouldn’t do what the other children were doing within the sessions. The cold weather contributed to this, with Harry appearing upset, especially during those outside lessons.
“Harry had limited confidence, struggled to follow instructions and found engaging with peers challenging, often requiring significant adult support to remain settled.”
However, over the course of five weeks, Harry’s experience began to change.
With the support of the CITC coaches and sessions, Harry made significant improvements, gaining confidence within the sessions.
Reflecting on development while watching Harry during a session, Miss Miley discussed how after a couple of sessions and watching his peers, Harry started to enjoy the different activities. He benefitted by observing his classmates, copying their movements and enjoying small manageable activities.
Miss Miley sat down and explained:
“The help and support from CITC allowed Harry to progress at his own pace within the sessions, without any pressure on him enabling him to build confidence, develop skills and engage more positively in P.E.”
A key turning point came when practical adjustments were made, giving Harry warm clothing to wear during the session, which allowed him to become much more involved in the activity.
This combined with Harry observing his peers during the P.E sessions, allowed him to develop his confidence and feel more settled in the environment, which brought out a completely new side to Harry.
From this point onward, CITC were able to help Harry further his social and physical development, by providing consistent encouragement, clear instructions, increased independence for him to enjoy physical tasks.
Miss Miley descried how this resulted in him making huge progress in the lessons:
“He has begun to follow instructions much more consistently and demonstrated increased confidence by participating in the activities during the session.
“From this, he was better able to regulate his emotions, resulting in improved engagement and social interactions.”
The changes have not just seen in the school environment, the progress that Harry has made a positive impact on him at home, witnesses by his family.
Harry’s mother, Disńy, shared the improvements she has seen within her son, explaining how Harry’s initial reluctancy to take part in other activities that differed from his routine has changed since being on the programme.
He now engages more with his siblings, rather than playing alone, as well as communicating with words showing more involvement with other people especially his classmates, which Disńy describes as being down to the school sessions.
Sitting under CITC’s Healthy People pillar, the City Primary Schools programme is delivered in schools across Greater Manchester.
During these sessions, pupils and teachers take part in National Curriculum PE lessons as well as extra-curricular activities, targeted interventions, educational workshops, social action projects, anti-discrimination sessions, competitions, and teacher CPD events.
To find out more about the programme, visit: mancity.com/primarystars
With thanks to the Premier League Foundation for supporting CITC’s delivery of the programme.
If you want to support CITC, enter this month’s Prize Draw competition, for the chance to win a and more.
The City in the Community Prize Draw is powered by Raise Your Game and your support will go towards sustaining the charity’s programmes, which empower healthier lives through football.
Entries start at £5 per ticket; fans can enter on a one-off basis, or they can sign up to a direct debit, meaning they enter the draw monthly automatically. *
City in the Community empowers healthier lives through football.
To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/citc or follow @citcmancity on social media.
*Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Qatar, Lebanon, and North Korea are the only excluded countries from the prize draw.
