Tamworth Pupils on the Dancemats

Tamworth Pupils on the Dancemats

Tamworth pupils are being encouraged to dance their way to a healthier life by the Tamworth School Sports Partnership, by doing something they enjoy, using the dancemats.

As part of the new government initiative, the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) which aims to create a new ‘five hour offer’ for 5-16 year olds, two hours of PE at school and a further 3 hours after school each week. Tamworth Sports Partnership are leading the way after joining forces with FitnessGaming, offering students an activity that will excite all of them.

The dance mats which allow the pupils to wireless record their performance and compete against friends and other schools, have been supplied to the five high schools throughout Tamworth, with the feeder primary schools able to use them when they want too.  They will be used in PE lessons, after school clubs and interschool competitions.

Ben Bulleyment, Partnership Development Manager of Tamworth School Sport Partnership, said:

“We are introducing the Cobalt Flux Just for Schools dance mats in our schools to engage those pupils who do not currently enjoy PE. Feedback from pupils has often been that they don’t like the activities in PE, or that they don’t like being directed by a teacher, so we needed an activity where they could feel more in control and something which is more in line with their out-of-school interests. They will also help to achieve the PE and Sport Strategy target of more pupils doing more sport by providing an alternative activity for disengaged students, particularly adolescent girls.

“The dance systems are ideal because they enabled me to provide a system for each secondary school within my budget and they keep the pupils active while they have fun – for them it’s just a game and they are getting fit by default. We’ll be using the wireless system to host inter-school competitions across Tamworth which the pupils are all really excited about.”

Duncan Black, Director at fitnessgaming, said:

“A key part of involving all young people in sport and PE is engaging with those who do not currently want to take part in traditional physical activities, such as cross-country, hockey or netball. Sport needs to move with the times and embrace activities that are more suited to today’s youth, making sport and fitness something they enjoy and not something to be avoided.

“Although advances in technology and computer games are often blamed for children staying indoors and avoiding exercise, there are new and innovative ways of using this technology to engage children in sporting activities. This type of activity is perfect for School Sports Partnerships because it crosses all ages and genders, there is no discrimination so all pupils can play against each other regardless of their abilities.”

The dancemats which can be used with either the Playstation 2 or Wii make them easy to setup.  For those with special needs, there is also a three-sided frame mat and a hand-controlled mat, allowing the whole class to get involved.