|
|
Girls should take part in competitive sport to build confidence and
resilience, the leader of a group of girls' schools will argue this week.
Helen Fraser, chief executive of the Girls Day School Trust (GDST), will
tell the group's conference that sport can help girls cope with failure.
All girls "and not just the sporty ones" should take physical exercise, Ms
Fraser will say.
Research that girls are far less active than boys is worrying, she
argues.
"Girls who are in schools which focus solely on academic achievement can
experience success after success, and may never learn that you can have a real
setback and come back and recover", Ms Fraser told BBC News.
"The experience of losing a hockey game three-nil and carrying on to
another match builds resilience".
Ms Fraser will tell the conference that she backs "sport for all".
"That's why I love it when our schools have A, B ,C and D teams and
beyond", she will say.
Not all girls like ball games so it's important to find alternatives, says
the GDST
The GDST draws on research from the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation
which suggests only a quarter of girls in England meet current recommended
levels of physical activity each week, with the proportion taking part in
regular sport falling steeply after the age of 10.
One in five girls do no physical activity at all, twice the proportion of
boys, the research suggests.
Ms Fraser says other research suggests that more than 80% of senior women
business leaders played organised sports while growing up.
She says similar high proportions of female executives believe sport made
them more disciplined, resilient and competitive in their careers.
She cites the example of former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
once a competitive figure skater and tennis player, while the head of the
International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, was in the French national
synchronized swimming team.
Ms Fraser says Olympic medallists like Jessica Ennis, Katherine Grainger
and Nicola Adams are excellent role models for young women but says women's
sport needs better funding and more media coverage.
"I think sport and exercise are ways in which women can reclaim their
bodies from the kind of obsessions of the tabloid press and celebrity
magazines", says Ms Fraser.
Valerie Dunsford, head of Sheffield High School, part of GDST, said it was
important to offer a large range of sports to attract different types of
girls.
"Not everyone wants to be out on the hockey pitch", said Ms Dunsford.
"You don't have to be a fantastic sportswoman to bounce on a trampoline and
it gives you a great workout."
She said the great sporting advantage of girls schools was a lack of
self-consciousness.
"Girls school pupils are less bothered about what they look like. Even of
our sixth formers are still happy to put on a leotard and jump on a
trampoline."
The GDST is composed of 24 fee-paying schools and two academies.
|
|
发表于 2016-7-10 18:36:22