Launch of 'Mission: Active Kirklees' 2008
This year’s ‘Mission: Active Kirklees’, a schools programme aimed at encouraging youngsters to become more active and healthy, is being launched at Leeds Road Sports Complex, Huddersfield, on Wednesday, June 11.
The launch marks four weeks of activities for all Year 4 primary school children in Kirklees.
It will also introduce 'Mission: Active Kirklees' Ambassadors, who are signing up for the mission to help inspire, motivate and encourage children to get involved in physical activity and follow a healthy diet. They include Councillor Jim Dodds, Deputy Leader of Kirklees Council and Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Judith Hooper, joint director of public health for Kirklees PCT and Kirklees Council.
‘Mission: Active Kirklees’ activity days will be held at a different venues in Kirklees with around 200 eight and nine year being involved each day. They will take part in a special 'Mission: Active Kirklees' circuit involving 10 active challenges. It is being organised by the Kirklees Schools Sports Partnership with support from Kirklees Sport and Physical Activity Development Officers.
Every child who accepts the mission to get more active and healthy will receive a logbook to record what they do and full of information about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The logbooks contain ideas for sport and other activities and also quizzes, vouchers and healthy recipes.
‘Mission: Active Kirklees’, first held last year, is part of Kirklees Council’s ‘Getting Fit for 2012’. It is run in partnership with Kirklees NHS Primary Care Trust and Kirklees Active Leisure. The schools activities programme has been coordinated through the four School Sport Partnerships in the district.
“Last summer’s inaugural ‘Mission: Active Kirklees’ was a huge success with over 4000 children taking up the challenge to be more active and healthier. We want to build on that by enlisting more ‘agents’ to the mission so we can continue to spread the word and commitment to more activity and healthy eating,” said Councillor Jim Dodds.
Judith Hooper added: “ ‘Mission: Active Kirklees’ shows young people that, as well as being good for them, physical activity can be fun. We hope these events will encourage more children to follow a healthier lifestyle and, in turn, act as agents to get their families and friends doing the same.”
In addition to the activity days, there is a competition for the ‘agents’ to design or create a new activity and schools are running their own health weeks.
Also, from September, around 12,000 Year 5 and 6 pupils will be working with step-o-meters to record the number of steps they take and carrying out related activities and tasks.