International links through football
Portsmouth LA has found an exciting away to improve literacy and numeracy and promote community cohesion, through sporting links with Indonesian schools.
The British Council contacted Portsmouth LA to see if any of their schools would be interested in forming links with Indonesia. As English premiership football is extremely popular there, the British Council saw an opportunity to link English and Indonesian schools through a football-themed project.
The project links up with the Asian Soccer Academy, which has training centres across Asia working with young Indonesians (in school and outside school) running workshops, training sessions, and so on. They are planning to work with Islamic schools in 2007-8 on the English and football programme.
The Playing for Success centre based at Fratton Park, the Portsmouth football ground, has already had considerable success working with hard-to-reach students using commentaries, match analysis and magazines.
The project has set out the following aims:
- To promote cultural opportunities for Portsmouth schools in Indonesia
- To support young people in both countries, with key literacy skills
- To use football as the medium for learning
- To help develop more active lifestyles in both countries
- To help develop links with schools in both countries
- To support schools in addressing the Community Cohesion agenda.
- To promote the opportunity of cultural exchange visits
A small group of key people initially travelled to Indonesia to establish links and to assess the challenges involved in the project.
As Mark Scarborough, the Portsmouth Extended Services Co-ordinator points out, the Indonesian project is a creative way to address a number of issues:
‘It includes elements of citizenship, community cohesion and promoting healthy living. We send them over a complete pack of materials, including scarves and banners so their rooms can be Pompey-fied.’
The project will culminate in an Indonesia–UK tournament played at Fratton Park, presided over by Indonesian Ambassador.
Part of the funding was allocated to pay for the time of a teacher; to develop and create the education material, input data onto the website to help share good practice and display the finished work.
Pompey Study Centre has already received funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Football Foundation to fund the project. The LA did not need to provide funding to cover the cost of the project. Funding to cover the fact-finding trip came from the British Council and the Premier League.
