It has been a whirlwind first month as Schools Engagement Coordinator for Beat the Street.  In only 5 weeks I have met so many people and organisations, linked in with wider physical activity networks, such as Move More and the School Sports Partnerships, and connected with many of the schools who are excited to play Beat the Street this summer. 

131 schools have signed up to play so far.  Personally, I would like to see every primary school in Sheffield playing Beat the Street and go above and beyond the target of engaging 42,000 people in the city.  It is so exciting to be part of a project that engages the whole city, from Stocksbridge and High Green in the north all the way to Mosborough and Totley in the south; everyone can play! 

On 19th May we officially launched Beat the Street at the Olympic Legacy Park.  I had the pleasure of looking after 30 Y1 children from Oasis Don Valley who were excited to be the first school in Sheffield to play Beat the Street. 

I’ve also been on with creating and sharing a short film for a Schools Video Assembly which you can check out on the link! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcVDyVDvNZ0&t=337s). 

We had 8 brilliant children from Porter Croft Primary school who were full of energy and enthusiasm and they bring the video to life.  It was exciting to give young people in the city the opportunity to be a part of promoting Beat the Street.  A pupil from Tapton School filmed the schools part of the assembly.  She is so talented at a young age and guided the video, choosing the backgrounds and suggesting lines for the children to say.  In addition, Sheffield is The Outdoor City so I wasn’t short of finding exciting locations to film at and speak about. 

The standout thing for me since I started is the people involved in this.  Alasdair Menmuir and Natalie Grinvalds join me as a small team of engagement coordinators.  Both of them have worked hard over the past 5 and a bit weeks to build links with partners and have organised some creative events and activities with stakeholders and community organisations.  I have been given a great platform to succeed, particularly from Adam Fuller who has been promoting Beat the Street in schools before I started the role and Tom Hughes and Anna Lowe have been so helpful in connecting us with the citywide Move More network, linking us with partners and providing advice and encouragement. 

I have had the pleasure of meeting so many fantastic partner organisations already: Create Sheffield, the Canal and River Trust and the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity to name a few.  The four School Sports Partnerships (Arches, Links, Forge and Points) are all working together to promote Beat The Street with the shared aim of seeing all children enjoy being active. 

Intelligent Health who created Beat the Street and have delivered the initiative in numerous towns and cities across the UK,  have an excellent team working behind the scenes to make the project a success. 

We have plans in place already for the ‘sustain’ phase of the game and I will be in post until the end of October to connect schools with partners and activities to produce long term benefits.  In my opinion, this part is just as exciting as the 6 week game.  I am looking forward to hearing the stories of children and families who increased their physical activity and discovered new green spaces in their area during the game and then supporting them to make these benefits long term.  

Every registered school will receive regular updates from me by email throughout the game and I have a number of exciting events lined up during the game. 

I have the opportunity to deliver in person activities with a small number of schools.  This includes assemblies and ‘Treasure Hunt’ led walks to take children around their local area in search of Beat Boxes. Do send me a message using my email address below if this is something your school would be interested in. 

Every primary and SEND school in the city will receive a fob, a card for a parent or carer, a map and additional resources for every child to play.  These schools will compete as teams in one of 7 local leaderboards with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for teams with the highest total points and highest average points.  There a plenty of opportunities to win prizes!

If you are a secondary or independent school, you can create teams in the community leader board and invite your pupils and staff to play.  We would love to see year group challenges, inter-school competitions and staff departments challenging each other to see who can achieve the most points.  You can create a team on the Beat the Street website (https://www.beatthestreet.me/sheffield/) and collect a card for free from your nearest distribution point (https://www.beatthestreet.me/sheffield/map/).

If you haven’t already registered your school, please feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas at Daniel.neath@intelligenthealth.co.uk and I will keep you up to date with the latest news, challenges and ‘Go Week’ activities.

I will look forward to seeing you in Sheffield playing Beat the Street this summer!

Dan - Schools Engagement Coordinator