Ajuntament de Barcelona E-headquarters

30 free activities to promote sport in schools

posted 23/08/2012 at 15:50 h. - Redacció bcn.cat -

Promoting sport from a very young age at school is the goal of an activities programme Barcelona City Council is offering city schools in 2012-13 and which includes thirty free courses in school time.

Besides promoting physical education and introducing school students to new sports, such as water polo, cycling, swimming, dance and gymnastics, the programme will seek to instil the values of sport in school children, as well as to get them into the habit of doing sport through physical education.

"Sport makes you think, participate, it helps you integrate, push yourself, and it lets you make friends while you have a good time", commented the Deputy Mayor for Quality of Life, Equality and Sport, Maite Fandos.

The City Council anticipates 45,000 students in all will sign up, 2,000 more than last year when 235 state and state-maintained schools took part in the programme.

A new course this year, "On wheels - pedal", is designed not just to teach children the various kinds of cycling you can do in the city but also to promote socially responsible cycling.

Another goal of this programme is to raise children's awareness of sport for people with disabilities, through a course called "Sport includes". It is aimed at students in the sixth year of primary school and special education.

Registration in September

Before the start of the new school year in September, the Council will send PE teachers the new activities catalogue, so schools that want to register can do.

Teachers will receive specific training for each course so they can work on the theoretical side at school and later put that into practice at various council-run sports centres.

That way, school students will also have a chance to visit some of Barcelona's iconic sports facilities, such as the Bernat Picornell Pools, the Palau Sant Jordi and the Olympic Stadium.