CHILDREN from six Coventry schools were joined by Paralympic swimming champion Liz Johnson and Commonwealth gold-winning gymnast Steve Frew to test out their teamwork skills.
The pair met up with 60 children at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School where they took part in an afternoon of outdoor exercise and training.
The session gave the children the skills to host their own sports festival, and they have done a lot of work about sports leadership and planning events this term.
Liz and Steve’s visit was part of the Commonwealth Connections programme, a joint project between the British Council and the Birmingham Organising Committee for the Commonwealth Games which twins 60 West Midlands schools with areas including the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Coventry’s schools include Corpus Christi, Earlsdon Primary School, Finham Park 2, Riverbank Academy, Moseley Primary School, and Coundon Court and they are partnered with Zambia.
The schools will be using traditional Commonwealth activities during their festival while drawing inspiration from Zambian culture.
Steve Frew said: “The schools are coming together to create activities and develop leadership skills. It’s really important that these children have this opportunity as it gets them outdoors, giving them new skills and new people to meet.
“This is the beauty of Commonwealth Games projects, bringing people together from across different cultures, mixing ideas and everybody benefitting.”
Corpus Christi’s PE teacher Harry Clark added: “Today has been all about bringing students from across the city and region together to learn from Olympic and Paralympic champions and engage in teambuilding exercises as part of the wider Commonwealth Connections programme.
“It’s been a privilege to have Steve and Liz here at Corpus Christi to support the day.
“They have brought so much enthusiasm to their activities, and it was great to see students of all ages and abilities getting involved and having fun.”
