With just a few weeks until the 2013 survey goes live, Marianne Jackson , Head of Community Development Services for Conwy County Borough Council, explains the importance of the School Sport Survey in making a difference to sports participation in the County.
At Conwy we were clear in 2011 how the data from the survey could help us to plan the future of sport for young people.
For me, there were three areas that stood out:
1. It enables evidence based planning for medium and long term delivery strategies
2. It allows us to set baselines for participation levels
3. It allows us to set improvement targets based on levels of participation
These are crucial and will be a key driver and influencer for what we need to do in the future.
In 2011, an important aspect was that the survey was supported by our Education Department. It’s not just about leisure, it’s important to schools as well. It’s important to schools in terms of evidencing well-being and providing learners with a voice. While it’s also important to leisure in terms of providing activities that meet the needs of young people.
Marrying school and community programmes can be a very powerful tool. If schools can provide activities that meet the needs of young people, and if we can then also offer them the same activities at leisure centres and clubs, then we can make a significant positive impact on levels of participation .
We believe that we in Conwy are making greats inroads since our successful survey report in 2011 and key to this is effective partnership work between education and leisure.
We look forward to receiving the 2013 report in Conwy, and we hope that the positive work undertaken in Conwy since 2011 will show positive signs of improvement.
We will be giving the survey the same commitment and attention to ensure we get our reports in 2013. If we haven’t got the data then we are missing an opportunity to keep making positive change for young people in Conwy.
The Sport Wales
