COMPASS Founding Partner - 16th Nov 2011
COMPASS (Community of Providers of Physical Activity and School Sport) was created with the child in mind.
After years of asking other bodies to 'regulate' and control the quality of delivery our children experience from outside providers, it is heartening to see the leading organisations within the industry coming together to solve issues for themselves.
We all know that Physical Activity and Sport in particular can shape young people lives for the better. What we do not shout so loudly about, is that an extortionate percentage of adults' main BAD memory relating to school is PE connected. This is why it is vital that the organisations and coaches who are trusted by Head Teachers to deliver to our children, have the correct competencies to deliver excellent activities.
PE has come a long way since the bad old days of children running around in the cold in their pants if they forgot their kit, but the marketplace has altered too and the need for O.O.S.H.L (Out of School Hours Learning) has increased massively.
We are all aware of the person with a bag of balls 'posing' as someone who can 'solve' Physical Activity and sport issues in schools where resources are already stretched to the limit. This does not mean that we should tolerate them if we are passionate about giving children the very best.
Unfortunately these kind of 'operations' have sprung up everywhere during the recession, with Sports Coaching being the second largest employment growth sector during this time.
Let's be honest however, it is not entirely their fault that they do not meet standards others think should be Minimum Operating Levels. They are probably happy they are doing a great job - a massive degree of Unconscious Incompetence exists, they don't know they don't know.
Therefore the problem isn't the fact there are people attempting to work in this market, or that there is a demand for outside providers in schools in the first place. The problem is that there are no clear education pathways for deliverers of PA in schools to follow. For too long, providers have been caught between the worlds of Sport and Education where the competencies required to achieve sporting qualifications do not always match those required with groups of children participating in recreational past time activity.
COMPASS will help change this. Working closely with Skills Active, AfPE and other key organisations, we will create fit for purpose qualifications which are recognised in sport AND education, accrediting good providers and setting them on a journey of CPD to evolve into excellence.
The journey and the recognition it provides create knock on commercial and moral effects.
Why should a provider committed to staff excellence and CPD pay the same insurance premiums as providers that don't?
Why should providers NOT willing to invest in quality, be providers for grant aided programmes with tax payers money?
Why shouldn't schools be clear what Minimum Operating Standards look like, and easily identify those that are reaching those pre-agreed standards through a trade body. Like ARLA in residential letting, or FIA in the fitness industry?
COMPASS will help all stakeholders within the industry to move forward and work together with clarity and professionalism, eventually achieving what it is intended to do - RAISE STANDARDS FOR OUR CHILDREN.