Coleg Gwent Students Gain Qualifications for Fitness Training

“

Fitness and health is an issue that has exercised many of us in recent months, especially as concern grows that we are simply becoming another United States of America with their well ““ documented obesity problems.

This was highlighted in the campaign spearheaded by celebrity chef and author Jamie Oliver. His programme on Channel 4, “School Dinners”, lifted the proverbial lid on the problems of unhealthy school food, and proved that it was possible to provide nutritious food for children on a similar budget to the previous strictures that had been used to justify the plethora of junk food issued.

The Government, whilst covering themselves in glory through association by launching a retraining scheme for all food providers and caterers in schools, argued that amendments were due to take place regardless of the sudden influx of limelight. College students at Coleg Gwent, however, are proving that it is vital to keep fit as well as eat healthily, and are taking the fitness battle to local schools.

Training Fit

The students from Coleg Gwent are beneficiaries of a special training award programme. They are students on the National Diploma in Sport programme, and have now received their Dragon Sports Leaders Award. This award is a lottery funded development of the Sports Council for Wales and is aimed at helping to bring children between the ages of 7 and 11 into contact with sporting opportunities.

The Coleg Gwent students will now spend 10 hours each with primary school pupils from the areas of Torfaen and Monmouthshire. This will help towards the work they have to undertake towards achieving their diploma qualifications. The scheme is also designed to offer benefits to the children; plainly, it is intended to make it apparent that getting fit can be fun, too!

Provision for the Local Area

The students have received their training from experts in the field. They have studied on the Dragon Sports programme with training from Monmouthshire County Councils Dragon Sports Co-ordinator Nick Pritchard, and Torfaen County Borough Councils co-ordinator Helena McDaid. Helen Morgan, one of the Sport tutors at the campus where the students are studying for their National Diploma in Sports, said: “The idea of Dragon Sports is to make sport fun, so our students really enjoyed their training.

“Completing their Leaders Award means that they not only can complete the part of their course that involves working with children, but are also helping local school pupils to get fit and take an interest in sport,” she continued. “Many of our students aim to train as PE teachers after leaving college so this training is especially invaluable for them.”

Jethro Marsh

How else can we address the obesity issue? Tell us in the FE Blog

“