Thousands of pupils take part in life values programme

A PRIMARY school programme designed to support Coventry’s future generations for later life is celebrating another bumper year.

More than 2,300 five to 11-year-olds across 39 Coventry primary schools took part in the CV Life Engage! Programme over the last academic year.

Since launching in 2015, CV Life’s Engage! Educational Programmes have taught around 6200 youngsters core life values – teamwork, respect, integrity, enjoyment and discipline – through a combination of classroom-based activities with games of tag rugby.

However, over the past year the programme has expanded its topics to include body and healthy eating, as well as mental health.

More than 300 five to seven-yearolds took part in the Engage! Body Programme for the first time where participants learned about the outer and inner body, a balanced diet and healthy eating.

The Engage! Mental Health Programme also made its debut to nearly 500 nine to 11-year-olds across ten primary schools, who explored areas such as anxiety, resilience, cyber bullying and peer pressure – and where to get support should they need it.

The Engage! Values Programme – on which the overall programme’s success has been built over the years by teaching youngsters about life values alongside games of tag rugby – was also delivered to 1,500 seven to nine-yearolds during the last academic year.

Stuart Bird, Education Manager at CV Life Engage!, has contributed to the programme’s growth since its inception in 2015.

He said: “Some great work has been done at trying to guide young people down the right paths as they grow up, and one of the core challenges for us now is to see the impact we are making on these young people transmitting itself beyond the school gates.

“That’s why we initially set up the Schools 2 Club programme during the last year, which connects school pupils with their local rugby club so they can carry on playing tag rugby while also putting into practice what that they have learned from us in school.

“Schools 2 Club has had a terrific response, attracting 259 youngsters in its first year – 71 of which have now signed up permanently at their local rugby clubs – meaning more than a quarter of the city’s primary schools have pupils attending their grassroots rugby club.

“Younger children are more impressionable so it’s important, particularly in primary schools, that we are presenting them with information that gives them the chance to lead healthy and happy lives.”

For more information about CV Life’s Engage! Programme visit www.engagecoventry.com