Olympic gold-medallist Denise Lewis attends Herne Bay sports day

Pupils at Herne Bay High Specialist School & Sports College in Herne Bay today met Denise Lewis as part of their celebration around Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week - an initiative that is using the power of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to inspire more young people across Britain to do more sport.

To celebrate Lloyds TSB National School Sport week, 300 pupils from six local schools took part in the East Kent Secondary Alternative School Games. Pupils competed in several sports including handball, basketball, ultimate Frisbee and lacrosse. The aim is to give pupils the opportunity to take part in an interschool competition and to learn to play new sports.

The week runs from 29 June to 3 July 2009 and will inspire millions of young people in more than 10,000 schools across the country to take part in more sport. Over 400 schools from across Kent including 68 from the Canterbury area, have pledged to participate in Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week. The initiative supports the Government’s PE and Sport Strategy for Young People.

Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week profiles school sport and celebrates all that has been achieved in PE and school sport over the past year. Working with the Youth Sport Trust, Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week 2009 demonstrates that it is possible for each school-aged child in Kent and across the country, to do five hours of high quality PE and sport each week both in and out of school.

Since Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week launched in March, 10,413 schools across the country have pledged to take part and celebrate school sport. Some schools are theming lessons such as art and maths around sport whilst others are replacing timetabled classroom lessons with Olympic focused PE classes.

Sally Bell, partnership development manager for the Herne Bay & East Kent Coastal school sport partnership said “Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week is a great way of engaging children with sport and the pupils here at Herne Bay High School have been inspired by Denise Lewis’ visit. Incorporating the Olympic Games into Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week will enable us to make London 2012 relevant to the children and parents in our community and increase pupil’s enthusiasm for sport both in and out of school.”

Sally Hancock, Director of the Lloyds TSB London 2012 partnership commented; “We are pleased to be able to take Denise Lewis to visit Herne Bay High Specialist School and Sports College in association with the Youth Sport Trust. It’s great that so many schools from east Kent are participating in Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week. The Youth Sport Trust shares our aims and ambitions in increasing participation in the classroom and the community. We hope that more schools in the region will hear about the success of 2009 and sign up for Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week 2010.”

Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week will capture the incredible transformation school sport has enjoyed in recent times and help us celebrate the work the country’s schools and school sport partnerships, such as what Herne Bay High Specialist School and Sports College are doing to enable all young people to access five hours of sport a week by 2012. We are delighted Denise Lewis in her role as a Youth Sport Trust School Sport Ambassador is helping us inspire more young people to experience and enjoy PE and sport.”

Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis said; “The sporting journey for many Olympians and Paralympians begins at school. It’s a crucial period for a young athlete’s development and I hope that by bringing London 2012 into classrooms, Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week will inspire our next generation of Olympic and Paralympic athletes.”

Schools, community centres and organisations in the Herne Bay area who are interested in finding out more about Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week 2010 should visit www.schoolsportweek.org.

ENDS

For media enquiries:

Lloyds TSB 
Eve Speight  T: 020 7356 2162  E: eve.speight@LloydsTSB.co.uk
Lucy Mart  T: 0870 626 9906  E: lucy.mart@fourcommunications.com

Youth Sport Trust 
Lee Murphy
Media Relations Manager 
T: 07825 065179 E: lee.murphy@youthsporttrust.org
James Webb
Senior Press Officer   
T: 07752 372151 E: james.webb@youthsporttrust.org

Notes to Editors

Lloyds TSB and London 2012:
Lloyds TSB is the exclusive Banking & Insurance Partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and is committed to inspire and support young people, businesses and communities across Britain. www.lloydstsb.com/thevillage. In addition to Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week, Lloyds TSB is supporting promising and emerging British sporting talent on their journey to London 2012 and beyond through Lloyds TSB Local Heroes in partnership with SportsAid. The Lloyds TSB Local Heroes programme has a national reach with local impact, supporting athletes from across Britain with awards of £1,000 to help with the costs of training and competing at national and international level and as recognition of their emerging talent. www.lloydstsb.com/localheroes

The Youth Sport Trust:
The Youth Sport Trust is a registered charity with a simple mission: To build a brighter future for all young people through physical education (PE) and school sport.  Its main objective is to increase young people’s participation and enjoyment of PE and school sport and, through this, improve their life chances. The Youth Sport Trust plays a central role in the development and support of more than 450 sports colleges across the country. For more information visit www.youthsporttrust.org

The PE and Sport Strategy for Young People:
The PE and Sport Strategy for Young People, jointly delivered through the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport aims to increase the numbers of young people taking part in high quality PE and school sport. The Government’s long-term ambition is to offer all young people the opportunity to participate in five hours of sport per week, both within the curriculum and outside the school day, by 2012.

National School Sport Week:
The first National School Sport week was held in 2008 and consisted of a nationwide programme of activities across the country including Festivals of Sport, intra and inter-school competitions and other local activity to promote PE and sport in school. The objective in 2008 was to get as many school pupils as possible in England to take part in two hours of sport per week. This target was achieved for 90% of pupils across the country.

Get Set – the London 2012 education programme:
Get Set is a range of free, flexible resources with the Olympic Values (excellence, friendship and respect) and Paralympic Values (courage, determination, inspiration and equality) at their heart. Resources available on the site are for 3-19 year olds and include inspirational films, interactive games, fact sheets, news articles and more, along with an Educators section for practitioners and senior management.

‘Get Set’ offers the opportunity to ‘Go Further’ and get involved in initiatives supported by London 2012 partners in eight key themes - internationalism; communication, collaboration and citizenship; practical learning; PE and sport; enterprise; sustainability and regeneration; culture and creativity, and healthy, active lifestyles.

Through Lloyds TSB’s partnership, Lloyds TSB National School Sports Week is a key part of the PE and Sport theme of ‘Get Set’. School and colleges working with ‘Get Set’ now have the chance to apply to join the ‘Get Set network’ and receive the London 2012 education logo from September 2009 onwards in recognition of their learning through the London 2012 Games. London 2012 is currently running a competition for budding designers aged 16 – 21 to create the infill for the London 2012 education logo. For more information please go to www.london2012.com/getset