Foundation celebrates another year of Premier League Primary Stars

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation hosted a special ‘takeover’ event at Lea Valley Primary School as it celebrated another year of delivering Premier League Primary Stars.

The education programme is funded by the Premier League, through the Premier League Charitable Fund, and uses the appeal of football to help children be active and develop essential life skills.

More than 7,000 youngsters across almost 100 local primary schools have benefited from the Foundation’s delivery of the programme over the last four years.

At Lea Valley, where Tottenham Hotspur Stadium can be seen from the playground, pictures of pupils enjoying Foundation activities adorn the walls and our staff were recently invited to take over the timetable for a day.

The morning began with a health and wellbeing energiser for children and their parents.

Ivana, in Year 6, said: “It was fun, the games and the dance moves. I really liked them. It hyped me up; it made me feel good and happy.

“Having Spurs coming into the school, it’s really cool.

“I really like the football we do with them in PE. The coaches come up with new things we can do to keep it interesting. I’ve learnt how to do new tricks and movements, and I practice these when I’m at home and at the park. It teaches me how to be more confident and focused.”

Ivana’s dad, Obasi Nwaobasi, said: “It’s been a fantastic morning. It was really entertaining and an experience I’ll cherish.

“My kids are very excited whenever they engage with Spurs. They come back home so happy and excited – supercharged! They talk about the experiences and what they’ve learnt, and we’re really pleased with the impact.

“It’s also great the opportunities provided outside the school, like trips to the Stadium.”

Following the energiser, the Foundation brought in a local partner, Spurs fan Kostas Vais, from essi Restaurant, to support the children with cooking classes.

Kostas said: “Tottenham Hotspur has a huge reach, a huge following and to be able to use their power to bring in local partners for days like this is fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed working with the Foundation, having the opportunity to share my life experience and give back to the kids.”

The Foundation team then utilised Premier League Primary Stars resources to run a classroom-based session for Year 6’s, focused on the transition to secondary school.

Among the group was Luca, who said: “Having Spurs here is amazing. It makes you feel excited to learn new things.”

The takeover concluded with PE activities, including one of the Foundation’s Sports Leaders sessions whereby Year 6’s had the opportunity to coach younger pupils in the school.

One of those Year 6’s, Karen, said: “It helps us to build confidence and teamwork. It’s always very exciting to have Spurs in the school.”

Headteacher Maria Kokotsis explained the difference it makes having the Foundation offer its support.

“We pride ourselves on our outstanding personal development for children and the Foundation activities are very much part of our package here at Lea Valley.

“We believe happy children are happy learners and when Spurs is involved the feedback from the children is always so positive

“It’s not just what they say, it’s how they are when they’ve finished. They’re skipping and you can just see the joy in their faces. The feedback is generally ‘Miss, that was the best day!’

“They’re always in awe of what the Foundation and the Club can offer them. Indeed, since the new stadium opened, the children have experienced a wider variety of opportunities, with a No Room For Racism workshop run in partnership with the Premier League and Chicago Bears among highlights.”

Andrew Wands, Foundation education manager, said: “We’re committed to empowering the young people in our local schools with the skills to help them succeed in the future.

“We also support young or newly-qualified teachers who will only have had a small amount of PE training to become more confident in delivering activities so that pupils can stay active, healthy and enjoy their education.

“Bringing together the power of Spurs, Premier League funding and local partners like Kostas, we see the difference it makes for children in schools every day and couldn’t be more grateful for the support.”

To find out more about the Foundation’s delivery of the Premier League Primary Stars programme email andrew.wands@tottenhamhotspur.com.