Active Schools

Other Programmes

GATE (Gifted and Talented Education)

 

The Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) project for primary schools has been completed for 2011. This programme saw one nominated student from each of our schools who is a talented athlete in their chosen sport have a week long, fully funded, leadership in sports course. This course continues to be hugely popular, and teaches a range of leadership, goal setting, nutrition for sport, code specific improvement, fitness sessions, water elements and many other opportunities for exposure for the selected students. It is a great chance to challenge our top young athletes and set them on a path to strive for excellence. It is the start of the Pathway that has been developed which provides opportunities for talented sportspeople from the ages of 9 - 18 to be challenged, supported and recognised for their achievements. The 2012 programme is currently being developed for term 3 and the coordinator for this year is Mary-Ann Venter from Upper Hutt Primary School.

Role Model Visits

 

The role model programme is an annual scheme that is run through the Activation team at Upper Hutt City Council. This places a high achieving young athlete into primary and intermediate school settings to provide motivational talks to students. The focus is to inspire high levels of sports and recreation involvement in our students, foster a love of physical activity and for those that are to already engaged, the encouragement to excel to high levels of performance.

The programme works on two levels; engaging our students and providing them with a relatable role model to aspire towards, but also giving a local elite Upper Hutt athlete the opportunity to promote themselves, engage with their community and provide them with the chance to deliver presentations and speak in front of large audiences.

For 2012 the Activation role model is Thom Nguyen, a student at St Patrick’s Silverstream and expert table tennis player. This year he was part of the Olympic Selection Squad, only just missing out. His achievements are endless, to mention a few; he’s been Global Junior Circuit champion in both the U15 and U18 category, he won the New Zealand U18 and New Zealand Secondary School Boys Singles and Doubles titles, he represented Wellington in the New Zealand Open Men Doubles and won, breaking Wellington’s 57 year drought. As well as achieving in the sporting world, he’s also doing very well at school with responsibilities of being Deputy Head Boy and Head of Academics, with aspirations to go and do medicine. Thom Nguyen has somehow managed to balance his sport and academic life, with successes in both.

In 2011 Gareth Kean was our role model. Gareth is a lifetime local who attended both Mangaroa Primary and Maidstone Intermediate. Gareth won Silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games making him the youngest Kiwi medalist. His sights are now firmly set on the London Olympics in 2012. In 2011, Gareth visited a total of 2385 students across eight different schools during the role model programme.

Goals are such an important part of getting our young people involved in sports and recreation and through the role model programme our students are exposed to and supported to develop their own goals for participation. To have a role model of Gareth’s calibre in the Upper Hutt community available to present to schools in this manner is a testament to the high achieving sporting culture we have in our city.

Xtream Activation Push Play Trailer Visits

 

This programme includes a series of Xtream Activation Trailer visits to primary schools increasing physical activity opportunities, promoting other events in the city and promoting wider Activation messages. The trailer will be manned by Recreation Services staff and provide fun filled lunchtimes at schools. Staff set up and run a variety of physical activity games and challenges at schools whilst promtoing key messages and events in the city. We have the additional bonus of being able to deliver a tennis module, based on the 'Grasshoppers' programme. Any school who has undertaken the 4 week programme through Tennis Central can tap into this new addition to the already exciting Xtream Activation Trailer.