Kelechi Iheanacho, John Stones and Manchester City Women’s Karen Bardsley, Lucy Bronze and Jill Scott spent time with Year 5 students from E-ACT Blackley Academy to mark the beginning of the programme, which aims to bring learning to life through a series of football-themed activities.
The Blues’ quintet sat down to watch themselves in action before helping the youngsters to write their very own match reports, who then had the opportunity to use their upskilled vocabulary to quiz the players.
Heading back to school for the day, defender Stones was impressed with the classroom based activities.
“It’s great to see City in the Community using football to help educate local children,” he said.
“The project is a fantastic way to build the confidence and knowledge of kids in a fun and engaging way.”
Supported by Etihad Airways, along with the Premier League and Professional Footballers Association, the City Stars project was created to build children’s confidence in reading, writing and spoken language using examples from the world of football.
This is particularly important in Manchester where, according to the National Literacy Trust, children and young people spend less time reading a book than the national average.
During the six-week project, youngsters are encouraged to write match reports for the City in the Community Gazette, use descriptive words in their City commentary sessions and take part in a specially designed quiz on the Etihad Stadium tour.
A successful pilot earlier this season showed 71% of children felt City Stars made them more confident in their literacy skills, while 67% said the project increased the likelihood of them reading outside of school.
For Head of City in the Community, Mike Green, it is an initiative he is delighted to be introducing to youngsters across Manchester.
He said: “This season, we are proud to be celebrating 30 years of community work in Manchester and our ‘City Stars’ project is a great example of how the power of football can be used as a tool for social good.
“Working with partners including Etihad Airways, will ensure this project can reach even more children than ever before.”
Linden Coppell, Head of Sustainability at Etihad Airways echoed these thoughts, as he added: “At Etihad Airways, we care about every community in every destination we fly to.
“We want to support communities like Manchester, encouraging children to have fun in the classroom and on the pitch whilst always learning.
“Etihad’s pioneering spirit and commitment to providing the best experience possible makes this collaboration with City in the Community an exciting opportunity to help educate the youth of today.”
To find out more about Manchester City’s work in the community, visit: mancity.com/community
