Established in 2017, Premier League Primary Stars uses football to inspire academic engagement, wellbeing and positive values
Let’s be honest, football doesn’t always get a good press. Over the years, column feet have highlighted the tribalism and, from time to time, dreadful behaviour among fans and players. But the ‘beautiful game’ is, most certainly, a powerful force for good in our schools, clubs and homes through the work of Premier League Primary Stars.
This programme has capitalised on a huge positive – football is wildly popular with this age group. That enthusiasm is used to engage boys and girls with sport, with academic subjects (especially all-important English and maths) and with life lessons about resilience, confidence, kindness and fairness.
Premier League Primary Stars was first established in 2017 and has been a consistent resource ever since in delivering resources and ideas for primary education. It is accessible to everyone, and with particular focus on delivering age-appropriate, practical and curriculum-aligned material. This is used by teachers, educators in settings such as out-of-school clubs, and by home schoolers (parents are more than welcome on its website).
With football as the hook, subject specialists and heavyweight partners such as the National Literacy Trust have helped develop accessible and engaging resources that support children’s learning. There are great initiatives in areas that don’t instantly seem a natural match – poetry, for instance – successfully used to fire up creativity and help children to get in touch with their feelings.
It’s now widely accessed – used in over 20,000 primary schools across England and Wales – and with some 18 million attendances at club-led sessions delivered by 103 professional football club community organisations. More than 70,000 teachers are registered for its free downloadable lesson plans. Premier League Primary Stars estimates it reaches 1.1 million children every year through digital resources.
“Nothing the greatest teacher prepares for a lesson plan could come close to beating a surprise school visit from a hero of the game”
The data is impressive, so too the fact that its resources are attuned to the issues of our time. There is a big bank of teaching resources supporting children’s mental health, confidence and ability to bounce back from setbacks. As an example of this, last autumn term kicked off with an academic planner to highlight special events, including World Mindfulness Day.
Similarly, after the great win in the Women’s World Cup, there was a Resilience Pack featuring stories and insights from Harry Kane and the Lionesses on themes such as learning from mistakes and adopting a can-do approach even when you fear failure.
There has been some especially timely material on allyship – called Active Allies – to help children overcome stereotypes and outdated attitudes and encourage girls to be more confident playing sport alongside boys. And there’s a wealth of material to keep playground play clean through the Play the Right Way theme.
With many initiatives, downloadable material includes inspiring short films and assembly plans, as well as suggested classroom activities. There are also specific resources for children facing bigger difficulties, such as fear around school attendance. This is supported through more than 100 professional football club charities – these span both the National and Premier leagues.
Of course, nothing the greatest teacher prepares for a lesson plan could ever get close to beating a surprise school visit from a hero of the game. Coming face to face with Theo Walcott and having his motivational support during a lesson is something that ensures learning is taken to heart and will stay in the memory.
Walcott, who helped launch Premier League Primary Stars back in 2017, visited a primary school with his former club Arsenal last February for the launch of resources for Children’s Mental Health Week. There have been other similar club-led visits by great names – including Chloe Kelly, who visited schools to support the launch of allyship resources.
Premier League Primary Stars is funded by its charitable arm, Premier League Charitable Fund, which is one of the largest sports charities in the world and works closely with professional football club charities. It’s good to see the Premier League and clubs at every level investing in young people. Even better that their objective is not only to grow the next generation of players and fans but also support their academic success, confidence and wellbeing.
* Premier League Primary Stars plprimarystars.com
Further reading: Sport for success
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