A focus for this group of partners will be the athlete’s diet and the impact this has had on the growing professionalism of para-sport over the years.  Comparing menus from the very early days with a modern day athlete’s approach to nutrition will inform much of the work, as our partners consider the changing world of Paralympic competition and the way this is viewed today. 

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Contents

• Great Missenden Church of England Combined School
• The Misbourne, Great Missenden Secondary School

Great Missenden Church of England Combined School

5th - 9th July 2021

Year 5 students from learnt about how athlete diets have changed over the years and had a go at creating their own healthy plate. They then heard from National Paralympic Coach and NPHT volunteer, Anita Templar, about how important sport has been in developing self-confidence, not just in the Paralympians she has worked with but in the lives of the many young people she has coached as they developed their physical skills.  With this knowledge the students then created a dance alongside specialist Paulina Porwollik, who helped the students recognise their superpowers and find confidence in being active and creative. To round off their project, the whole school met Naomi Riches MBE, British Paralympic adaptive rower, who shared her story and her gold medal from London 2012 and answered lots of questions about the importance of eating well when you are training as well as finding out about what it took to become an athlete at the top of her sport. 

Feedback from the school:

We thoroughly enjoyed it as a class, year group, school and staff. Every child was involved in the project in one way or another which was good. It happened to support and compliment our Healthy Body, Healthy Mind fortnight.

To celebrate the completion of a successful project, all three year 6 classes from Great Missenden enjoyed day visits to the Paralympic Heritage Centre where they chose to explore the impact of the Paralympic Movement through a variety of STEM inspired activities.

   

The Year 6 teacher said of the visit to the Heritage Centre:

Thank you for making the three days so enjoyable. We had a great time and the children got so much out of it, who knew there was so much history on our doorstep! I am more than happy to make this a yearly thing for our year 6 students. 

The Misbourne, Great Missenden Secondary School

July 2022

Setting the scene examining the vast changes in experience from the early days of the Paralympic Games when the competitions were usually supported with a beer tent to the elite performance approach of today was an important element to this project.  Directing the conversation was Paralympic gold medallist John Harris whose recollections of the earlier days of professional para-sport gave students an insight into how athletes and coaches trail blazed the professional performances we have come to expect today. Former Paralympic Coach and NPHT volunteer Anita Templar added her insight into the training and diet of those early days and helped students reflect on the importance of Dr Guttmann’s holistic approach to rehabilitation as a legacy for future athletes.

September 2022

Dispelling myths further regarding ability and opportunity, the students were then invited to work with professional dancer Paulina Porwollik, who actively follows her dream to perform as an equal in non-disabled dance troupes, working all over the world, judged only on her merits as a dancer.  Together the students spent the day, learning how to train as a professional dancer and creatively explored movement and its associations with wellbeing, shedding inhibitions and working beyond their comfort zone in a supported space which resulted in a powerful collaborative dance performance that celebrated difference without judgement, together.

  

Watch the videos of their dance performance below and here.