G&T in sport

[gemdotcom]

DD is a keen athlete. She runs for a local club. Her coaches at the club suggested I ask school about their G&T programme for her sporting ability. (Top 5 in the UK for her chosen events - shameful boast-sorry!)

Had a meeting with the head who said "oh that's nice for her, I could put her on G&T register, but it doesn't actually mean anything".

Fed this back to the coaches who said they school should make some provision for her but as they're not involved with education they don't know what!, head says if the coaches know of anything to let them know.

Worth persuing? What actually can they 'help' her with?
Should I be annoyed at school for not taking me seriously?

Answers on a postcard please

I think as long as she has a good club and coaches out of school, there isn't much the school can or need to do for her. Other than being supportive in allowing her time off to compete when necessary.

How old is she?

Hello OP.

I think its a case of both really, in that school should make provision/do something for your dd. However, ime (similar to yours, but music) school really couldn't help at all.
You need to look at how you as a family can support your dd.
I'm not suggesting you do this but we took dd out of school (at her request) to enable her to practice instead of having to wait until after school.
What is your dds sport and many congrats to her , you must be really proud

Thanks for the replies folks.

She's aged 10 and a sprinter and long jumper, and we're very proud :)

I kinda had the feeling there wouldn't be much to gained by it. Coaches seemed to think school would tap into a 'lifestyle coach' who would advise her on time management and her well being, (this was what an older girl in a different EA got). Luckily her competitions are either weekends or after school. On a plus point for her though- "I didn't have to try out for the athletics festival mom.....bonus!"

Oh well, that's saved a few phone calls and me banging my head off a brick wall!

If a child excels at tennis, the LTA run a half day every week at an indoor facility (in each county). I know of children who miss primary school regularly to attend this (not DS).

On the other hand, school told us DS was G&T for sport (never exactly found out for what but we think throwing) last term outdoor PE was repeatedly cancelled due to the weather and indoor PE was country dancing. You gotta

wow, that's impressive, DD is moderately good at running so I now realise poignantly how elite the elite are (DD is good regionally but gets blown away at county level, and I imagine many of the county elite would get blow away nationally).

G&T in schools doesn't mean much of anything, ime.

It can depend which high school your primary cluster is in... what I mean is a sports-specialist local-ish academy school has specialist staff to identify G&T-sport ability among primary kids in its own cluster. And even to publicise events that primary kids can attend, representing their school. This kind of thing is hit and miss. Would be good i If you can find any events that your DD and other children at her school could compete in, the school could formally put entrants forward.

My 15 yo is at a similar level and club input is far more important to her and pretty much everyone she knows than school. Where her school is helpful is in actually attending schools' events - she got to compete in a home international last year in a competition which started at county schools' level.

School also paid a contribution towards the cost of attending national schools' events last year and gave her time off to attend them.

At primary school, I'm not sure what the school could usefully do to be honest.

Schools who recognise talent in kids usually just refer them to a specialist club to nurture their particular talent. (This happens locally with gymnastics etc)

Once she is at an age where she is needing extensive time off school to compete, that becomes more of an educational issue - but usually schools just set work for the youth to compete whilst they are travelling.

Being on the G&T list is, indeed, meaningless in most instances.

Am finding the idea of a lifestyle coach for a teen enthralling.

I would dearly love someone to appoint a lifestyle coach for my DD, briliant notion.

Nothing to do with schools, but there are grants available for top 5-ish athletes - generally for under-15s and up, but some LAs offer support by way of sports grants which aren't restricted to a particular age group.

Just checked back here.
Thanks for the replies!

I managed to find the EA G&T co-ordinator for our area, after 3 weeks she returned my call and said 'it's not academic, we're not interested, we don't get the funding'.......Of course I thanked her profusely for being so polite and enquired as to where she learnt her interpersonal skills!?

DD is enjoying herself and if she hasn't read at least 3 pages of her reading book every night, I'm sure I'll not lose too much sleep over it......... Oh and she's now learnt how to high jump :)