News

Saturday 14th March 2009 was the “Kick Off” for this years Lads and Dads project.
The School Sport Partnership works together with the Early Years team at Worcestershire County Council and Early Years settings across Redditch to run the inaugural programme.

The Aims of the Lads and Dads project are:

To promote active physical development in young boys

To encourage more men to take an active part in their child’s learning

To increase parents awareness of learning through practical activities

To improve and promote reading and communication skills in young boys

To encourage the development of a mutually supportive partnership between home and the setting

36 lads and their dads from 11 Early Years settings across Redditch ,attended the morning of activities which took place at Arrow Vale Sports College. The lads came from the following Early Years settings:

Noahs Ark Nursery
Oak Hill Nursery
Holyoakes Field
Woodrow First School
Abbeywood First School
St Thomas Moore First School
St Lukes First School
Batchley First School
St Stephen’s Nursery
St Georges First School
Tudor Hall

This year, the children and their dads were welcomed to the event by a very special guest…..Bookstart Bear!



After a brief introduction to the morning, the lads and dads quickly got started with the physical activity aspect. There were 10 different stations for them to have a go at including a penalty kick, an obstacle course and target throwing.

Leaders from the Redditch Leadership Academy were on hand to warm everybody up and then to lead each group around the activities.







After the activities, the lads and dads were all ready for a drink and a rest! After some refreshments, the lads all settled down and listened to a story teller.



Next, it was time for the lads to go back to the sports hall with the leaders and play some parachute games. With everybody gathered around the parachute, the leaders played lots of games and got the children joining in and having fun.

Meanwhile, the dads were hearing all about the benefits of taking part in activities and reading with their children. They were given lots of useful information to take away and enable them to be able to carry on with similar activities at home.



At the end of the morning the lads and dads were brought back together. The lads were given a certificate for attending, and a bag with lots of equipment to enable them to carry on with some of the activities at home. The equipment bag included a large ball, chalk, a bat, a skipping rope and a frisbee.

There are two other events this year which the lads and dads have been invited to, a Forest Schools event in May, and the Cup Final event, similar to the Kick off, which will take place in June.

The event was a huge success with great feedback from lads, dads and leaders!